100 Moments for a Couple Never Meant to Be
by Percyjacksonfan3
Summary: Written for the 100 Drabbles/100 Prompts challenge. I was given 100 prompts, a couple, and was told to write 100 drabbles for each, each one less than 600 words. Leo/Reyna goodness, everybody, who doesn't want to read that? Rated M for later chapters. All rights go to Rick Riordan!
1. Pride

**1\. Pride**

Her pride had caused many of their fights. More than his (unintentional!) sometimes hurtful jokes, more than her unwillingness to open up. Reyna's pride was one of her defining traits and Leo knew this, better than anybody else.

Leo knew _Reyna_ better than anybody else.

"I can't go!" Reyna yelled at him, looking more unkempt than Leo had ever seen her. "I told you, I can't come back with you to Camp Half-Blood-"

After the war the demigods had… merged- a little. Romans who wanted to live in Camp Half-Blood, or even just stay there to see what it was like, did. Greeks who preferred the safety of the town of New Rome, who wanted to grow up and have families and be near friends, went to Camp Jupiter.

"You can step down," Leo replied, uncharacteristically calm. He was standing in her praetor room, arms folded across his chest, staring at her. "They can live without you here. You've done your job as praetor."

Her eyes flashed and Leo knew that it was the wrong thing to say. Of course now her damned pride would make an appearance.

Beneath that pride was hurt though. Leo knew it, he could see it, shining there in her eyes.

Reyna replied with the only thing she knew to cover up her hurt feelings- anger and viciousness. "You go back there. It's a camp full of unorganized, sloppy _Greeks_." She sneered the word and Leo felt his stomach tighten.

"I can't live here." He said to her.

Now her façade cracked and he saw the true vulnerability beneath it, the fear that this- choosing where to be together- would split them apart.

He knew because he felt the same. He was scared of it too.

"I'm needed here," she replied, calmer now. Her beautiful eyes were filled with such depth as they looked at him and for once Leo was serious.

"They can live without you here," Leo said, stepping towards her.

Her eyes shattered a bit more and she opened her mouth but Leo continued before she could, stepping right up to her, grabbing her wrists to gently stop her hands from fidgeting and bringing her hands to rest on his chest, pulling her close.

"But I can't."

Her eyes widened slightly and she just stared at him, unable to speak.

"Please," he pleaded, pride be damned. He wouldn't let a fight as stupid as this break up what they had. "Come with me."


	2. Unproffessional

**2\. Unprofessional**

"Stop," Reyna gasped out, weakly pushing against his chest- so pitifully that Leo hardly felt it.

He pulled away from her neck- which had a shining trail on it, a result from kisses- and grinned at her playfully. "You sure about that?"

"Leo," Reyna practically growled, looking as affronted as a woman sitting on an office bathroom sink counter could manage. Her pencil skirt was riding up her thighs- not too high, but tantalizing enough for Leo, he would prefer it if the thing was _off, _and her eyes were glowing.

He kissed her lips; really, the way she was pouting was too tempting to resist. Reyna pushed at him weakly once more but her lips opened willingly enough under his.

His shirt must look a mess, his hair more mussed than usual from her fingers but he didn't care. They were in her law office bathroom surrounded by people outside and he didn't care.

"This is unprofessional," Reyna whispered when his lips moved to her neck once more, trailing more kisses down the other side this time. "If someone comes in…"

"So you want me to stop?" Leo asked, bringing his head up once more to look at her. "You're sure?"

"Anybody could see us-"

She faltered when Leo took a small step away, creating distance between them. The pleading whine that came out of her mouth at the loss of contact was enough to make Leo grin.

"We'll be fast," he promised her, stepping back to where he was previously standing. "This is why I shouldn't visit you at work."

Reyna moved her head up to kiss him passionately once more, her hands making quick work of his shirt buttons before she slid it off of his shoulders.

"This is why you shouldn't come to my work covered in sweat and grease, forcing me to take you to the bathroom and clean you up," Reyna replied.

He grinned at her. "But you love me."

She met his eyes, stopping halfway finished removing his white muscle shirt. "But I love you," she seconded.

He caught her lips in a kiss, sealing the promise.

oooOOOooo


	3. Pizza

**3\. Pizza**

"Favourite colour."

"Red," Reyna replied, not even looking up from her book. It was a good one, about gods and monsters and demigods. "You knew that."

"Just checking," Leo replied, from where he was assembling a set of drawers from IKEA in their apartment living room. They had moved in together just last month and now were starting to buy new appliances, replacing the ones they had each come with.

She looked up at him, watching as his face screwed up and he stuck out his tongue slightly in concentration. It was cute, Reyna couldn't help but think with a small smile. "Do you need any help?"

Leo was a master when it came to building and repairing things but Reyna felt lazy just sitting in front of him on the couch and reading. She was usually so busy but college was just finishing up and she had written her last exam yesterday. She felt like she had nothing to do.

"No, I'm fine," he replied. "Okay, back to the game. Favourite book?"

It was a typical average afternoon for them.

Leo was a mechanic, one of the best at his repair shop. It ran in his family, he had told her. His father was even better at repairs than Leo and despite his divorce from Leo's mother, Aphrodite, he made more than enough to keep Leo and himself living comfortably. He had decided against further education in favor of going out in the real world.

Reyna had met him when her friend, Annabeth, had somehow bust a tire and needed help. She brought it to Leo's mechanic shop and, badda bing, badda boom, it was love at first sight.

Or at least that's how Leo told it. In truth Reyna had thought him a dirty grease elf and he had relentlessly asked her for her number numerous times until Reyna finally gave in and gave it to him.

Hey, he had been funny. Plus he was kind of cute….

From _there_ it was love at first sight. Or first… date.

Leo had taken her out to eat and (somehow unsurprisingly, even though Reyna hardly knew him) he had taken her out for pizza.

Now she snapped back to the present when Leo, out of the blue, said, "I'm hungry."

She set aside her book and stood up smiling. "Come on," she said, grabbing her purse. "Let's go out for pizza."

oooOOOooo


	4. Morning

**4\. Morning**

Reyna woke up to the sun shining on her face and soft white bed sheets beneath her. She stretched with a contented groan as her joints popped and her muscles stretched.

With a sigh she relaxed once more and turned her head, eyes fluttering open and hair splayed on the pillow beneath her head.

She was met with the sight of her fianc- no. No, Reyna remembered with a sudden grin. Leo Valdez was no longer her fiancée.

He was her husband.

Since yesterday.

He was watching her, she saw, probably had been for a while. She smiled lazily, happily, and his eyes lit up a little bit more at the action.

"Morning," he murmured to her softly before leaning in to kiss her softly, lovingly. "Mrs. Valdez."

Reyna grinned even wider. "Say that again."

Leo picked up her left hand and gently ran his thumb over the simple silver wedding band on her ring finger. "Good morning Mrs. Valdez."

She propped herself up on an elbow, letting the covers fall to her waist- she was married to Leo now, there was no need to hide anything. He had already seen it all before anyway. Many times.

"We really did it." Reyna marveled, lifting a hand to trace his face with her fingers in wonder, catching sight of his own wedding ring on his finger. "We got married.

Leo nodded, letting her hands roam all over him. "We're married."

Reyna leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips. "I love you," she whispered.

Leo kissed her back. "Love you."


	5. Ripples

**5\. Ripples**

When she dipped her toes in the water it made ripples. Growing bigger, bigger, bigger until they faded out to be a calm, serene surface once again.

It was funny, Reyna reflected later, how something so small could make such a big impact.

Like Leo, she thought with a fond smile. It wasn't until the actual battle with Gaea and her giants in Greece that Reyna really took an interest in him.

It had been awful, scary as Hades. Reyna had smelt blood, had practically tasted it, and everywhere she had looked there were bodies covered in gold power, yells and screams and…

…it had been pure chaos. Terror in its simplest form. Bloody and messy the battle had not been a quick and clean one. It had been worse than storming the Titan's palace of power last August.

So much worse.

Reyna had been distracted, fighting several hellhounds at once, when she had felt it. Or rather, heard it.

A thump, right behind her. When she had slashed the final hellhound and turned around she found herself staring at the golden remains of a monster- a dracanae, she learned later, and it's shield right behind her which had fallen and made the thump.

Standing there, in front of her, covered in dirt, sweat, blood and monster dust had been Leo. Eyes wide, breathing hard, an absolutely feral look in his eyes.

Reyna had stared at him wide eyed. She had barely spoken a word to the son of Hephaestus and now he had just saved her life.

She had stood and stared at him; he had stared right back.

And then, without a word, he had left, moving on to fight some other monster without so much as a 'you're welcome.'

After the battle Reyna had looked across the field and, as if sensing her gaze, Leo had turned abruptly and met her eyes.

He had smiled at her.

Ever since then she had been trying to find the right time to actually thank him. So far it hadn't worked out. Every time she saw him he was surrounded by people- worshipped, as a hero. He was a part of the Seven, a celebrity now.

Here, at Camp Half-Blood, sitting on the dock dipping her toes into the canoe lake, Reyna was calm.

Until now.

"-Que sepa coser,

Que sepa planchar

Que sepa abrir la puerta

Para ir a jugar- Oh." Leo's voice trailed off from it's quiet singing when Reyna turned her head and met his eyes.

He was blushing, she saw.

"I didn't think anybody would be here." Leo said hesitatingly. "There's a feast going on you know."

Reyna nodded. "I know."

He took her in, how she was sitting alone on the dock, and as if expecting her to say no he offered, "want some company?"

She watched him before nodding.

He sat.

"What were you singing?" She asked him after a few seconds silence. They were both staring out to the water, not meeting each other's eyes.

He blushed darker. "A… lullaby. My mom used to sing it to me when I was little. It's called Rice Pudding."

Reyna looked over to him, eyebrow raised. "Rice Pudding?"

"Yeah," he looked sheepish. "It was my favourite."

"Huh," Reyna thought that over. "Where is your mom?"

"She died," Leo said. "When I was little."

"My dad did too," Reyna said.

Leo looked over at her. "It sucks right?"

She nodded. "Yeah," she replied quietly.

They didn't say anything else. Until.

"Thank you," she said. "For… what you did."

When he nodded beside her she knew he understood.

oooOOOooo

"-Que sepa coser,

Que sepa planchar

Que sepa abrir la puerta

Para ir a jugar"

Translates as:

**Who knows how to sew,**

**Who knows how to iron,**

**Who knows how to open the door**  
**To go out to play. **


	6. Desk

**6\. Desk**

"No," Reyna stopped her husband from taking a step closer to where she sat on the floor surrounded by wood. "I can do this."

"Reyna-"

"_I can do this_," she insisted. "You don't have to help me."

Leo raised an eyebrow at her. "Did I make a huge mistake and marry someone more stubborn than I am?"

"Yes," Reyna replied bluntly. "Now go take a rest and sit down on the couch and watch sports or something."

"I hate sports."

"Then watch the cooking channel!" Reyna snapped, moving her attention back to the pages of paper in front of her and assessing the area around her. "Just let me do this."

When she didn't hear a retort almost ten minutes later she looked up; to be met with him watching her, amusement clear in his eyes with the corners of his mouth twitching.

She sighed. "You're laughing at me."

"I would never-"

"You are." Reyna said. "It's okay. This… it's hopeless. I can't do it."

"Rey," Leo moved to kneel beside her, covering her hand with his. "You don't have to do this. I can do it."

"I just wanted to show you that I _could_," Reyna said, looking down, biting her lip in disappointment. "You always make everything. I wanted to… help."

"Building is the only thing I'm actually amazing at," Leo said, joking once again. "Let me have that. You have everything else."

"You cook," Reyna offered. It was true. While Leo was no chef, Reyna's attempts at all food tasted like Mrs. O'Leary's breath on a bad day.

"You do everything else," Leo replied with a smile, taking the hammer from her right hand and the assembling instructions from her left- he threw the latter in the trash. He didn't need them.

Reyna watched the paper go flying to land in the garbage with a glare. "It's just a stupid desk from IKEA," she muttered. "But it's hard to put together."

"I know," Leo said sympathetically, although it was clear he didn't. This was child's play to him and Reyna knew it.

She sighed and stood up. "You'll probably make it in record time _and_ make adjustments to it."

Leo shrugged, standing up as well. "We'll see."

"No," Reyna moved to rest her head on his chest. "You will. You're amazing that way."

His laugh shook his chest. "Thanks."

She stepped away and glared at the wood, screws and other materials that lay on the floor. "It better be one amazing desk," Reyna muttered. "I spent an hour trying to figure out that thing-"

"And look!" Leo said, pointing. "You screwed in two screws! In the right place too."

Reyna shot him a glare. "Funny."

He grinned. "It's my specialty."

"Whatever, I'm ordering takeout," Reyna said. "Oh and Leo?"

"Hmm?"

"You better hurry," Reyna said. "We need that made quickly, remember?"

"For…?"

Reyna smiled wickedly. "Well I have always wanted to have sex on a desk…."

Her husband visibly gulped and his eyes widened. "Right," he said. "No problem. It'll be ready soon."

She laughed and left to go to the phone; and later, after their takeout was gone and the desk had been assembled, Reyna lay panting beside her husband on their bed.

At least the stupid desk was good for something, she thought, looking over at Leo's sleeping form. It was good Leo had built it in the end. At least now she knew it was sturdy.

oooOOOooo


	7. Handprint

**Disclaimer: Rick owns it all :)**

**7\. Handprint**

"Look at that!" Leo exclaims the moment Reyna comes from the hallway in their apartment leading to their 3 year old son's bedroom. He gestured excitedly to the fridge where a painting had been quickly taped. "Look at it! He's going to be an artist when he's older!"

Reyna smiled a weary smile as she took in her ecstatic husband. She slowly walked to where he was to stand in front of him, leaning back with a smile as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest. "It's very artistic," she said considerately.

Leo looked back at the small green handprint that took up the center of a piece of paper. "He'll be the modern Picasso," he predicted. "Or Van Gogh- only with both ears."

Reyna smiled wider. "We'll frame this and put it on display in his art gallery," she played along. "It will be worth millions- Miko Valdez's first work of art."

"But we won't let anybody buy it," Leo said. "It's ours."

Reyna nodded. "Oh yes. It will forever have a place on our fridge."

Leo nuzzled our neck. "He'll be so amazing," he murmured into her skin. "He could be anything he wants to."

Reyna turned to look at him, meeting his eyes with nothing but love showing in hers. "He already is amazing."

Leo met her eyes and smiled broadly. "I know. Thanks to his momma."

Reyna rolled her eyes but put her arms around his neck. "He's half you, you know," she reminded him.

Leo laughed. "Remember that when he starts picking up all the girls. That'll be my side."

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "What, like you?" She asked teasingly.

Leo pouted. "I got you didn't I?" He said softly. "The prettiest, most stubborn and sought after Roman out of hundreds."

Reyna grinned. "What, _I_ can't be the one who got _you_?"

"You already make the most money," Leo pointed out, referring to her job as a lawyer in contrast to his as a mechanic. "Let me have this piece of manly pride."

"Oh you can keep that," Reyna agreed. "I'm just taking half credit for our amazing son."

"He is, isn't he?" Leo agreed once more, excited all over again. "I mean have you seen that handprint? It's absolutely beautiful."

Reyna just shook her head. Despite herself, she loved both of her silly boys.

She wouldn't give either of them up for the world.


	8. Devotion

**8\. Devotion**

_de·vo·tion, pronounced *di*vōSHən*_

_noun_

_love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause._

oooOOOooo

"We all know I'm not the best with words."

Leo paused, letting the chuckles around them die, down. He didn't even spare their guests a glance, staring instead at the woman in front of him.

"But I'll give this a go," he continued, smiling wide, still looking Reyna deep in the eyes. "Because I need you to know this, and I think this is the only time I can actually talk and you're not allowed to interrupt me."

Again chuckles from their friends and family.

"On this day, I, Leo Vladez, take you, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano," he grinned teasingly at her when he said her full name. "To be my wife."

He took a breath. "Today I promise to always be there for you, no matter what happens to either of us. You have me, in heart, soul and body, and I hope to gods that you never let me go."

She was tearing up, he saw, and it caused his throat to tighten a little as well. But still, he persevered. "I promise to love you, to nurture you and to stay with you until the end of my days. You will be my equal in all things from this moment forward. I pledge my devotion to you, here in this meadow, surrounded by our friends and family as witness. I will love you for eternity. I will never break my promises to you. I will always make sure you have a full bowl of jelly beans on your desk." She gave a choked laugh and he grinned nervously back at her. Home stretch, he was almost finished. "And I swear, on the River Styx, that you are the only woman in my heart, now and for forever."

Then he frowned. "Well until we have a daughter. But that's different."

He looked up once again to meet her eyes. They were shining, partly from happiness and partly from tears. Leo felt his heart give a painful squeeze. "And if I break any of my vows to you, the gods have full permission to punish me."

More laughs and chuckles from the foldable chairs their guests sat on.

He looked only at Reyna. She was beautiful, in her white gown that went down to her feet. She was barefoot beneath the gown, a fact that Leo had questioned but hadn't really received an answer to. She had been stubborn in what she wanted in their wedding- after she had been convinced to even _have_ a wedding.

Her gown was white and fitting from the waist up. It had a V-neck and thick straps holding it over her shoulders, leaving her arms completely bare. Down from her waist it was sleek and slim.

Her hair was curled and piled elegantly on top of her head with a few strands left free to frame her face. Blue drop earring hung from her ears and she wore a necklace of pearls- a gift from Percy and Annabeth.

Behind her were Annabeth, Hazel and Piper, all bridesmaids. Behind Leo was Percy, Frank and Nico. (Again, Reyna's suggestion. She was very close to the son of Hades, ever since their trip to take the Athena Parthenos back to camp years ago.)

Jason was stumbling his way through being the priest.

'I love you,' he mouthed to her while their friend spoke to the crowd.

'Love you,' was her reply.

oooOOOooo


	9. Unique

**9\. Unique**

"It's ugly!"

Le rolled his eyes at his hormonal wife. "It's not ugly. It's... unique."

"It's ugly," Reyna replied adamantly, hands on her bulging stomach, staring at the wall. "We are not keeping it."

"It's different," Leo protested, staring at the same spot on the wall. "But our baby girl will love it, I'm sure."

"Boy, Leo, we're having a boy."

"She'll giggle every times she sees it," Leo continued, ignoring his wife's pointed look. "And you'll be happy I picked this up."

This was a painting Leo had gotten from his old friend Rachel Elizabeth Dare about an hour ago. It was a painting of a hillside, with long grass. A blue sky and sunlight shone above the distant horizon and the main focus of the painting was a group of satyrs frolicking in the grass surrounded by dryads. One satyr was placing a flower crown on a giggling wood nymph's head.

Leo loved it.

Reyna... not so much.

"We are not placing this in Victor's room." Reyna said. "No way."

"First of all, there's no way we are naming our kid Victor, especially since he is going to be a she."

"We are having a boy." Reyna stressed, looking at him with a fond smile playing at the corner of her lips.

"We don't know what we're having," Leo pointed out smartly, "since we decided to wait until our kid was born for it to be a surprise. I made sure this painting suited both genders." He said with a proud smile, immensely satsified with himself. "And I told you, I'm 87% certain we're having a girl."

Reyna decided to once again be the adult and once again lay the old argument to rest. She turned her attention back to the picture. "I will not have a painting of faun's as a piece of decoration in our son's room."

"There's dryads too!" Leo said. "And I like it, so it stays."

"Leo-."

"It stays." He said, his tone and eyes serious. He reached out his hand to place it on her bulging stomach, rubbing his thumb back and forth over her sweater dress. "Whoever's in there," he said, staring at her stomach. "They'll love it."

There was no more arguing about the painting.


	10. Burn

**10\. Burn**

His kisses were slow at first, languid and soft. But as Reyna lay below him on their bed sheets, the glow of a newlywed surrounding and emanating off of her, she felt her belly coiled and tighten.

Her hands, wrapped around his neck and back, pulled him closer than humanly possible, wanting to mold their skins together. He gripped her hair, tugging gently and then more insistently, and Reyna moaned wantonly.

Leo's lips left her own and instead started a slow, glistening trail down the side of her neck, making her blood slow and feel like a molten burn moving through her veins.

"Leo," she gasped, more for the need to say anything than really needing his attention.

After all, she already had it. His full and undivided attention.

He pulled away to smile at her, unhooking her hands from behind his back to link their fingers together, he held them outstretched above her head, still laying on the bed. He was hovering over her and his eyes were dark, making Reyna's stomach tighten further.

"Leo..." She trailed off once more.

He shifted above her and she whimpered. He chuckled and whispered, "Yes?"

She arched her back. "More."

It was a command he was all too happy to follow.


	11. Innocence

**11\. Innocence**

You wouldn't think so but Reyna was something of an innocent.

For example, she had never killed anybody. That was rare for a demigod. Of course she had killed monsters, a giant or two and any bug she came across because she was scared of creepy crawlies (don't ask), but she had never actually killed a person. Except for a couple of pirates at some sort of spa…?

In the Giant War many demigods had deserted the gods side to join the giants because they lost hope in their parents or wanted to see them brought down. Some were convinced by Gaea, others by their friends, some left just because they wanted to. So in the war the demigods that were on the gods side had had to fight the ones on Gaea's.

They had killed them to survive.

Reyna was one of the few demigods who never did.

There was a difference between killing monsters and killing demigods. Demigods that you once knew.

Leo found that the moment he really lost his innocence was the moment that he had to help Jason subdue and kill a couple of guys from the Hermes cabin at Camp. Guys Leo remembered seeing in the mess hall at home.

Reyna had always made sure to knock whatever poor demigod she fought out. Leo loved that about her. She had told him late one night that she couldn't bring herself to stab them. She had tried, once, looking at a boy's face, a boy who would have killed her given the chance, and she still couldn't do it.

It was a huge deal to Leo, the fact that the girl beside him couldn't stand to be a murderer. Despite what had happened to her in the past, Leo treasured that innocence about her, wanted to keep it there, wanted to keep it safe. She was by no definition naive, but she did have a freedom no other demigod did, and that was the ability to honestly say she had never killed a fellow demigod.

Reyna didn't go to sleep picturing the faces of men whose lives she'd ended. She didn't wake up from nightmares of her victims eyes staring at her.

But she was always there when Leo did.


	12. Ink

**12\. Ink**

"It's official now," Leo told her as he held up the document. "You're stuck with me."

She laughed, taking the page from him, running her fingers over the ink printed words. "Our marriage certificate." She said. "It's so… flimsy."

Leo rolled his eyes at her. "It's paper, Reyna, what do you expect?"

"I just…" She trailed off before shrugging. "I don't know. I thought it would be more… withstanding. But anybody could just come and rip this up."

"Umm… are you proposing something? Should I be worried?" Leo asked jokingly, but with a serious look in his eyes.

"Of course not." Reyna said as if he was being stupid, which he was. "I just mean… this could catch fire," she sent a pointed look his way, "or be shredded. It could end so quickly."

Leo looked up at the vulnerable tone in her voice and his eyes softened. "Even if that happens," he said, taking her hands. "At least we'll still be together." He said. "This piece of paper… it doesn't mean anything. If it gets destroyed it doesn't mean _we_ will too."

"I know that." She pulled away in annoyance, but averted her eyes, a sure sign she was lying. "But- it shouldn't be so easy to break something so important."

"Hey," Leo cupped her cheek and made her look in his eyes. He smiled. "It won't be easy to destroy." He promised. "Because if you really want, we can guard it with our lives."

"Our marriage certificate?" She asked, unconvinced. "I wouldn't want you to die for something like that."

"Exactly," Leo said. "We don't need this piece of paper." He took it from her and held it up. "Because we don't need to prove anything to anybody. In fact.." He looked at his with his brows furrowed before his hand caught fire.

"Leo!" Reyna shrieked, watching as the certificate burned up. "What are you doing?"

He laughed at her. "Calm down." He told her. "This is just a copy. I made it before you could see. Our real certificate is in our bedroom."

She glared at him. "I am going to kill you!"

He just shook his head. "I can't believe you thought I'd burn our marriage certificate… Gods, I'm not Percy."

"Percy dropped his in the canoe lake," Reyna said absently. "The ink ran. Annabeth almost killed him. If it had been me he would have gotten a lot worse."

"I know." Leo said. "Which is why I didn't burn ours."

Reyna just shook her head and smiled.


	13. Escape

**13\. Escape**

It was mind numbing and just what she needed. He was a great distraction and she found herself losing the ability to form a coherent thought as his lips pressed down the side of her neck.

She didn't know him beyond his name- Leo Valdez- and the fact that he was reckless. Teachers thought he was trouble, fellow students left him alone because he was funny, and he had apparently run away from more foster homes than people knew of.

Reyna groaned as she arched against him, her head hitting the tile of the girls washroom. The school would be furious if they found out, of course, but Reyna made sure they wouldn't.

They used each other, and Reyna was fine with that. Her parents had left her, her sister had left her- since she was 18 it was technically legal for her to live by herself now- and now Jason had left her for the new girl named Piper.

Leo was good at making her forget. He was good at helping her escape. Reyna wasn't sure why she kept coming back to him, wasn't sure why she had gone to him in the first place really. But every time his eyes fell on her she felt it, no matter where she was, and sometimes the heat of his gaze sent shivers up her spine.

All she had to do was meet his eyes, jerk her head towards a secluded spot of the school, and he would immediately come up with an excuse for his friends and join her seconds later. She liked that, how he made her feel like she was more important than anybody else. She wasn't used to anything like it. Usually she came behind everyone.

This had been going on for... what? Weeks now, Reyna realized with a jolt. Had it really been so long already?

Lately she thinks she sees more than lust in his eyes but she ignores it. He's a quick distraction, nothing more. He was never meant to be anything more.

She should have known by now that Leo Valdez liked to break the rules.


	14. Pet

**14\. Pet**

"Leo, for the last time, come on!" Reyna called, grabbing her keys and purse. "I told them we'd be there at 2:00 and it's already 2:06."

"One minute!" Her husband called from their bedroom before stumbling out. He had his maniacal grin, one that even Reyna found infectious. The corners of her mouth twitched up.

Leo kissed her quickly before grabbing his coat and sliding it on as they left and locked their apartment door. "Percy's always late," he told Reyna. "Nobody will notice that we're 10 minutes late."

"More than ten minutes, Leo!" Reyna exclaimed as she let out an ear-piercing taxi cab whistle and hurriedly slid into one before him, telling the driver they were headed to Central Park. "We're at least a 15 minute drive away. At least Percy and Annabeth live within walking distance."

"And everybody else?"

"Frank and Hazel are always on time. The latest they've been to anything is three minutes. Jason and Piper are punctual to the second and Nico and Will... well, I'll grant you that they were late last time but... they had gotten... distracted."

"If you call having a quickie before leaving getting distracted." Leo muttered before letting out a yelp as Reyna hit his shoulder. "Gods, woman, you'll give me bruises."

"You more often than not get _distracted_," Reyna hissed at him. "Why I encourage it, I don't know."

He rolled his eyes as the cab stopped and they paid and got out. "Whatever."

"Hurry!" Reyna said.

They made their way into the middle of Central Park and, as Reyna had predicted almost everyone was there.

Will and Nico waved at them from where they sat under a tree with Jason and Piper, setting out food on a blanket and her face split into a wide grin when she caught sight of them.

Frank and Hazel had already set out the food they brought and walked forwards to greet them both. Before they could however, a huge hellhound leaped right from a tree.

Leo let out an instinctive cry, his hand lighting up in flames, before realizing it was just Mrs. O'Leary- Percy and Annabeth's freakishly friendly hellhound.

"I told you we'd be late!" Annabeth said, sliding down from their pet's back, patting her nose quickly before turning to face the rest of them. "Sorry, everyone."

"Good girl," Percy whispered something in Mrs. O'Leary's ear and the dog bounded away- probably to raid a pizza cart. "Sorry," he grinned lopsidedly. "I got a little distracted."

"Right," Annabeth waved a hand as if to say it was nothing. "So-"

Leo couldn't hold it in any longer. "Erm, Annabeth?" He said.

"Yeah?"

He bit his lip to hold in his laughter and looked away. "Your- uh, shirt is... misbuttoned."

Not to mention her bra was showing. Just a bit.

Not that he was looking.

Reyna glared at him anyway as Hazel blushed crimson and fanned herself, looking anywhere but at Annabeth and Percy.

"Oh." Annabeth looked down, blushing, before doing the top three buttons up correctly. "Thanks, Leo."

"Don't mention it." Leo said, grinning at Reyna, wiggling his eyebrows. "Besides, all of us get distracted sometimes."

Reyna looked like she was about to smack him but before she could he spoke again. "Alright!" He said happily. "Who's ready to eat?"

He headed towards the food, leaving a possibly angry wife behind him.

That was okay.

He's make up for it later.

Even Reyna could get... _distracted_.


	15. Detention

**15\. Detention**

When Reyna walked into detention that Thursday afternoon, she did so worrying herself senseless.

Never before had she gone to detention and she knew her sister Hylla and her father wouldn't be happy with her when she got home.

But she made an effort to raise her head and look around calmly. She would not show weakness around these people. The ones who always got in trouble, the ones who were constantly sent to the principal's office.

People, Reyna thought as her eyes landed on him, like Leo Valdez.

She had been there when he was sent to the principals office today. When he had rewired Coach Hedge's microphone to say things like, "The cow goes moo!" They only shared a couple of classes, English and gym, but that was two too many in Reyna's opinion.

If she never had to be in the presence of Leo again it would be too soon. She had avoided him at all costs this year. She saw him coming down the hallway, she turned to walk the opposite way. He was last in the cafeteria line? She would let five people at least join the line ahead of her to separate them.

Because after what happened last year... with her and him...

It couldn't happen again.

And she knew if she finally allowed herself to meet his heavy gaze and let him say the words he had been trying to say to her for months now, she would fall all over again.

And she couldn't go throught that. Not again. Not like last time.

She couldn't put him through that with her family again either, no matter how many times he tried to tell her he wanted to.

She sat down as far away from him as she could- in the first row, since he always sat in the back.

"Listen up cupcakes!" Coach began walking up and down between the rows of desks after everyone had arrived. Reyna recognized a couple of fellow students, like Percy, Dakota, Will, Clarisse and Leo, of course. Always Leo.

"Today you get to partner up for a special assignment." Coach grinned easily. "You have to write a 1 000 word essay talking about what detention teaches students. Once you finish your essay, if I deem it good enough, you get to leave early.

Oh man. Reyna needed to leave early. Her dad would find out she was here if she didn't get home soon. If he did...

Coach turned in a small circle, scanning faces before stopping on one. "Valdez." He grinned evilly. "I'll let you choose your partner first."

Reyna felt the blood drain from her face. No, gods, please no...

"Reyna." Leo said.

Coach looked at her. "Alright, cupcake, get up and sit down beside your new buddy and start writing. Who's next?"

Reyna did as she was told and sat down on the desk beside Leo's, purposely not meeting his eyes. She pulled her spiral notebook from her bag and opened it. "Do you want me to write it?" She asked the lined page.

"Reyna-"

"Please." She said, looking up to beg with her eyes. "If I don't get home soon... my dad..."

It was enough. Leo, who had been leaning towards her, sat back. He knew about her dad; he had been the reason they had had to stop their secret relationship last year after all.

"Okay." He said.

She wrote the essay, not completely able to ignore his heavy gaze.

They both left detention without speaking another word.


	16. Photograph

**16\. Photograph**

Leo debated ripping it up more than once.

He warred with himself about whether or not he should burn it. Some days he wanted to. Others, it was unimaginable.

But deep down he knew he couldn't do it. This was all he had left of her, of Reyna. That was it. One flimsy, fragile piece of paper was his only remembrance of the girl he had fallen head over heels in love with in high school, junior year.

Reyna. Ra-Ra, his nickname for her because of her initials.

He had noticed her the first day he arrived at Half-Blood High, fresh from another foster home. She was stern, smart and beautiful and completely out of his league.

So of course he started crushing on her instantly.

She ignored him at the start. He annoyed her with his attempt at jokes, he was sure, but he didn't care. She was beautiful and there was that look in her eyes... She wasn't as happy as she wanted everybody else to believe.

He wanted to figure out why.

Eventually they were paired up together on a History assignment, to do with the Civil War. They worked at her house, because there was no way Leo was bringing her to his new foster home.

(He would have already run away from it if he hadn't liked the people at HBH so much. And if he hadn't been so god damn infatuated with her.)

He got in trouble every week, usually from Hedge, usually for stupid stuff. He was usually better at being stealthy and not leaving a trace, but he was trying to get her attention with the stupid stunts he pulled.

It worked.

She had asked him one night why he kept pulling the pranks he did, and he told her it was because as long as he was funny and made people laugh, he wouldn't get picked on.

Reyna told him he was stupid.

That was when Leo knew he loved her.

"People won't pick on you," Reyna said, eyebrows furrowed as she stared down at her notebook where she had jot notes. "Everybody likes you."

"Even you?" Leo felt cheeky asking, but the blush that stained his cheeks sort of took away the bravado he was trying to portray.

Reyna had looked up at him, with her brown eyes full of so many emotions it made Leo's throat go dry.

"Yes." She had whispered, eyes flickering down to fall on his lips.

"Reyna," Leo had breathed out, not being able to stop himself from leaning forward ever so slightly...

He kissed her.

She wasn't allowed to date, so they kept it a secret. Nobody at school knew because somehow her older sister Hylla would hear about it and tell their dad.

Eventually her dad found out anyway. He had seen the photo booth pictures Reyna and Leo had taken together on their one excursion to the local mall.

Reyna came to school the next day and told Leo she couldn't see him anymore.

Leo had reached towards her and Reyna, proud, precious, fragile Reyna, had flinched.

Hurt filled him and shame flooded her features.

He would never hurt her.

Both of them knew that.

Without another word she had left him in stunned silence, standing alone in the school hallway.

He put the pieces together later. Her father. That was the only explanation. Her father was the reason she flinched.

She'd been avoiding him ever since.

So now all Leo had left was a photograph.


	17. Water

**17\. Water**

"Coming?"

Leo's smile was mischievous, making Reyna wary as he stood up from the Camp Half-Blood beach. They had been sitting on a blanket with a picnic basket full of food, and before she had a chance to open it Leo had set it down, kissed her quickly and ripped off his clothes before she could say a word.

She had been left sitting, blinking once, then twice, trying to catch up with what had just happened.

Because Leo was there standing completely naked in front of her.

"There's no way you are-"

Leo got on the dock and ran, yelling loudly as he did, before jumping in the air and doing a cannonball in the lake.

Reyna wondered if the naiads would be annoyed. She wondered if they would drown him. For a moment she contemplated letting them.

She sighed. She couldn't. Leo _was_ her boyfriend after all.

"Coming?"

Leo's head was all she could see above the water and Reyna pursed her lips. They had been dating for close to two years now, Reyna had seen everything of his there was to see, but...

...but this was still at Camp, in the middle of the day and anybody could come out here and catch them.

Reyna didn't want Kitchen Duty .

"Rey?"

He said his nickname for her and she was done. The low note of his voice and the tempting view the water _almost_ gave her was too much.

Without saying anything else Reyna stripped. Leo let out a quick whoop before she tucked her arms around herself and splashed into the water.

It was _cold_.

"Leo Valdez, this is freezing!" She exclaimed as she surfaced.

She let out a shriek as she realized he was right in front of her. He gave her his signature mischevious grin and Reyna's anger melted like motlen lead to pool in her stomach. "What are you going to do about it?"

Well now that he mentioned it...

Reyna placed both hands on his cheeks and swam a little forward so that they were practically nose to nose. She could physically feel where Leo's thoughts were going.

She smiled and he closed his eyes.

Right when she shoved his head under the water, dunking him, before abandoning ship and swimming away.

Reyna was laughing as he came sputtering up. "Reyna!" He complained.

"That's what you get!" She called.

He swam quickly towards her, stroking through the water, droplets shining on his thin but muscled arms as he did. "My turn."

She swallowed.

oooOOOooo

Hours later, after they'd had a water fight, gotten out to eat their food, waited a while, kissed a lot, and gone back in to swim around lazily, somebody found them.

It wasn't a fellow camper.

"Leo, Reyna."

The voice was a man's, and sounded amused.

Reyna knew who it was, and she contemplated sinking and drowning.

Leo started to talk.

"Chiron!" He said, too happily. The centaur stood on the docks with his arms crossed, frowning down at them. "How's it going?"

Chiron's tail flicked side to side and he ignored Leo's words. "I'm going to leave. You two are going to meet me in the Big House-_with_ your clothes on."

They blushed as Chiron looked to where their picnic basket lay with bundles of their clothing.

Reyna's bra, in particular, stood out on the sand.

Without another word he turned and galloped away.

"If Chiron doesn't end up killing us, you better run for your life." Reyna said.


	18. Time

**18\. Time**

Time is endless. The only constant in a universe of temporary.

Or at least that's what people say.

Leo disagrees. Time runs out faster than anything, especially when you don't want it to. When you're dreading the seconds ticking on that clock they always seem to tick faster.

Tick, tick, tick.

Leo's time isn't running out.

Reyna's is.

Why else would he be pacing in this hospital he's forgotten the name of? Why else would he be ripping strands of his own hair out because he's gripping it so hard and he walks.

That god damn clock keeps ticking.

Tick, tick, tick.

They're not letting him inside the room to see her. The minute the baby was born and its newborn cries filled the room Reyna fell unconscious. Her heart monitor started beeping, (beep, beep, beep) and her blood pressure fell, plummeted, dived off of a cliff hoping to never come back.

Leo was physically shoved out of the room as soon as the doctor and nurses understood what was happening.

So he was pacing next to a plan blue wall in a hallway, with a clock ticking above him.

Tick, tick, tick.

His friends had all gone to see the baby. Hazel had tried to get him to go too, but he couldn't. Not when his wife might be dying- or dead- just a couple of rooms over.

Leo had met Percy's eyes and had known the son of Poseidon was the only one who understood. Because Annabeth had died a couple of years ago after giving birth to their second child.

Leo didn't want Reyna to do the same.

Time. When you had a lot of it, time was great. But when it was running out before your eyes, an hourglass full of sand slowly trickling down, you wished it would freeze.

But is not knowing better than knowing?

Not in this situation.

When the doctor comes out of the operating room Leo can see it in his eyes.

When his lips aren't up in a smile and his eyes aren't sparkling with relief and pride, Leo knows, he _knows_ what that means.

He feels his heart stop. Physically feels it.

Then he feels it stutter to a start, like an old car still grasping on life with it's fingers.

Leo can't even listen; partly because he doesn't understand, but mostly because he's numb and there's a fog around his brain, coating and layering it, and he's incapable of doing anything other than standing there mutely.

But he catches phrases.

'-so sorry, you don't know how sorry I am-'

That makes Leo want to punch him.

'- some amniotic fluid must have gotten into her bloodstream, there was nothing we could do-'

That makes Leo feel sick.

Later he would go and see his dead wife, tears streaming endlessly down his face. Later the only person who could get him to even go and look at his baby is Percy.

Percy understands. He understands the conflict of emotion inside of Leo right now, even if at the same time, he doesn't. Percy knows Leo thinks his child killed his wife.

Percy knows the only words that will get Leo moving to see his daughter.

"She's the only thing you have left of Reyna."

Time, it seems, has finally decided what to do with itself.

For Reyna it decided to run out.

For their newborn child Leo holds in his arms, it has decided to start.


	19. Limit

**19\. Limit**

"That's it, that is it!" Coach Hedge said as he entered the classroom, stomping around like an angry goat. "Whoever rewired my megaphone can get up and fix it now, or I swear you cupcakes are all going to be cleaning this school for a month!"

Piper giggled next to him. "Leo…"

Leo grinned, but he wasn't looking at her. "Shush, Pipes."

"And if you cupcakes think you won't, you're dead wrong, this is the last time you make a fool out of me-"

Jason who sat at the desk in front of Piper turned to look at him. "It was you, wasn't it?"

Leo grinned, slipping a screwdriver in his pocket but he still wasn't looking at them. "You betcha."

"Nobody wants to own up?" Coach demanded. "No confessions?"

Silence.

"I'm at my limit," Coach said. "You crazy teenagers might as well be delinquents for the trouble you cause me. Up! Get up!"

Leo finally looked up from the back of Reyna's head as he stood with his class. Coach marched them to the gym.

"Everybody get a mop from the supply closet," Coach ordered. "Find a buddy, pick a spot and start cleaning."

Leo was turning to go with Piper and Jason when the Coach's voice reached him. "Valdez, no groups of three. You're with Reyna."

Jason rolled his eyes at his friends ridiculously victorious grin. "You got it, Coach."

Reyna and Leo got stuck with a spot in the corner and awkward silence fell over them as they started mopping.

Leo, being Leo, couldn't stand the silence so he tried to break it. Plus he hadn't set this whole thing up to get time with Reyna just so they could awkwardly do prison work together.

"Since when did gym class become manual labor?" He asked her.

Reyna snorted but it wasn't out of amusement. Leo frowned but she spoke before he could. "It was you, wasn't it? You messed with his megaphone?"

Leo looked up and met her eyes, seeing nothing but curiosity there. "You won't rat me out?" He asked.

Reyna smiled. "No," she promised before hesitating. "How?"

Leo grinned and shrugged. "I'm smarter than I look."

Reyna shook her head but her smile stayed firmly on her face.

They worked in compatible silence for a few more minutes before Coach's voice broke the silence.

"Keep going, cupcakes, no slacking! The cow says moo!"

Reyna laughed quietly and Leo's eyes widened. "Was that a genuine laugh from Reyna? Ladies and gentleman, call the magazines."

"I laugh," Reyna said defensively. "Just not a lot. Or at school. But I do laugh."

"Not enough," Leo muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Reyna watched him for a few seconds before mopping again.

"So…" Leo said.

She looked up.

"What's your favourite food?"

Leo froze after he blurted the words. Seriously?

Reyna seemed to be thinking along the same lines because she raised an eyebrow. "My favourite food?"

Leo shrugged. "We've been in the same class for what? 10 years? I hardly know you."

Reyna turned guarded. "There's not much to know."

"Liar," Leo said softly. "You just don't want to tell me." He flashed his mischievous grin. "But I'll find out eventually," he promised.

"I doubt it."

"I will." He wiggled his eyebrows, making her lips twitch. "I'm irresistible."

Reyna rolled her eyes and kept mopping.

Several seconds later she spoke. "Lasagna."

"Mine is spaghetti." Leo said. "See? We've practically been friends for years now!"

Reyna didn't answer, but Leo couldn't help his smile.

At least he'd finally talked to her. His plan hadn't been a waste of time after all.


	20. Secret

**20\. Secret**

"I know your secret."

Hylla's words made Reyna tense. "What are you talking about?"

Her sister stepped in front of where Reyna was curled up on their living room couch reading. "I know you're dating that boy. Valdez." The older girl's eyes were filled with nothing but concern. "Reyna, what are you _doing_? You know dad would throw a fit-"

"He doesn't have to know." Reyna interrupted her, glancing around quickly to make sure their dad was, in fact, not within earshot. "Please, Hylla, you don't understand."

"We're not allowed to date in high-school." Hylla stepped forward and took Reyna's hands. "Reyna, that's our _only_ rule. No dating, no kissing, no sex…. nothing to do with boys. Dad said so."

Reyna's face turned red.

"What did you do?" Hylla had always been able to see right through her, this was what Reyna had been afraid of. "Reyna… you- have you kissed this boy?"

"Reyna, have you… had sex with him?"

"Be quiet!" Reyna jumped up, flinging her book to the side. "It wasn't- it wasn't like how Daddy said it would be. Leo was kind and-"

"Please tell me you're joking."

Reyna raised her chin defiantly. "I'm not."

Hylla's eyes widened. "But-"

"I love him."

Reyna's words cut through Hylla's like swords, slicing them to pieces to fall at their feet, leaving only silence in their wake.

"I mean it," Reyna said at Hylla's look. "I'm in love with him."

Hylla stared at her for a few moments before pulling Reyna into a hug. "Then Daddy can't know." She whispered in her younger sisters ear.

Reyna's eyes widened as she gripped her sister tighter. "You won't tell?"

"No." Hylla pulled away. "I'll keep your secret. But you must be careful, Reyna, rumors are going around school about you two, and if someone finds out for certain- if somehow Dad finds out-"

"Help me." Reyna pleaded. "Please, Hylla, you can help me."

Her older sister hesitated. "Well he can never, ever come over here. Not even for school work."

Reyna nodded. "I know."

"Do everything you can to keep Father from finding out he even exists." Hylla's eyes took on a far away look. "Because… if he does find out… there's nothing that can stop him from keeping you two apart."

The thought of never being able to see Leo's warm, teasing eyes again was enough for Reyna to agree. "I understand."

"I don't know what else to tell you." Hylla said, releasing her sister. "Just… be careful."

Reyna nodded, gathering up her book. "I will."

"And Reyna?" Hylla called when Reyna was at the door to the living room, making her younger sister pause and turn to look at her with a question written on her face.

"If you love him," Hylla spoke haltingly, her voice laced with an old, dormant pain that Reyna hadn't heard in months. "Don't let him go. Relish every moment; because Dad might find out." Hylla closed her eyes. "And if he does Leo will be lost to you."

Reyna nodded once more before turning to hurry out of the room.

She needed to find Leo.


	21. Yesterday

**21\. Yesterday**

Yesterday had been a good day.

Yesterday had been a great day, the best day.

Today was a bad day. The worst day. Today was the killer.

oooOOOooo

Yesterday there had been smiles and kisses. Yesterday 87-year-old Reyna Valdez had hugged her husband tightly, vowing if she could she would never let go.

Yesterday there had been recognition.

The children and the grandchildren had come to visit them and Reyna had held Leo's hand and smiled at them, kissing their daughter's cheek, holding their two boys' hands. And the grandchildren- six little kids swarming around them, climbing on old laps and hugging thin, shaking frames of their grandparents.

Yesterday had been a good day. Yesterday Reyna had kissed him soundly on the mouth more times than she had in the past month.

Yesterday Leo had been afraid to leave her to go to sleep, because he knew Yesterday couldn't last forever.

He had been right.

oooOOOooo

Today was a bad day.

Today Reyna's dementia was at full force, attacking every weak chink in her armor, breaking down her walls like they were made of nothing more than paper.

Today was Reyna's birthday and Reyna didn't wear the ring her husband had made for her 59 years ago for their wedding day because she didn't remember she'd ever had a wedding day or a husband.

Today Leo left her a present anonymously because Reyna didn't know who he was.

Today was a bad day; but yesterday had been a great one, so Leo didn't give up.

Maybe Tomorrow would be better than Today. Maybe Tomorrow would be even better than Yesterday.

There was always a Tomorrow. Leo looked forward to the Tomorrow's.

And he never forgot the Yesterday's.


	22. Home

**22\. Home**

He doesn't look like much, Reyna will admit that. Even her, the first time she saw him, didn't think he was capable of much. Why was he a part of the Seven? His arms were so scrawny they didn't look able to lift a thing, his eyes held a crazy glint which set Reyna on her guard and once she spoke to him, while not stupid, he displayed no sign of greater intelligence.

No, Reyna muses as she looks at him. Leo Valdez does not look like much.

But she should have known not to judge someone based on appearance alone. Reyna, who has been judged and under estimated based on her age, gender, parentage and more, should know that people can be much, much more than they appear.

Leo, Reyna thinks as she watches him talk to Piper and Percy in the Jackson's living room, is different. Not because of his looks, although they certainly aren't the average (you would guess he was descended from an elf, a crazy hyper-active elf, if you didn't know that was simply ridiculous). Leo is not different because of his looks, but because of his personality.

Because Leo is modest. Amazingly so. It's a quality Reyna has usually admired, for she absolute loathes self-righteous and arrogant people, but with Leo Reyna has discovered how annoying it can be.

Leo is amazing and he doesn't even let himself realize it.

He's also observant. He is one of those people who focus less on themselves and more on what is going on around them, another thing Reyna admires. He never needs to ask if she's had a bad day because somehow he _knows_. He knows when to rub her feet at night because she's sick of walking on them all day and he knows when it's time to pull out The Notebook, a cliché that Reyna has fallen hopelessly into and dragged Leo down with her.

Leo is understanding. He is relatable. He is silly and cheering and uplifting and the only person in the entire world who Reyna shares every single part of herself with.

He doesn't look like much, but Leo is her home.

Leo is where she tucks herself into when she needs to feel safe and comfortable. His arms are the impenetrable walls that protect her every night, his voice is the lights throughout the house that show her the way when she's feeling particularly blind. His heartbeat is the steady reassurance that he is there, waiting for her to come back to every day, no matter what.

Leo is Reyna's home. After all, don't they all say that home is where the heart is?


	23. Mystery

**23\. Mystery**

She's a mystery right from the start; and Leo has never been able to resist a mystery.

It's why he _had_ to recover the Archimedes Sphere, even when it put him in danger along with Frank and Hazel. It's why he stayed up all night the first time he met Festus and let the dragon take him to Bunker Nine. He's curious by nature, and when something interests him he _has_ to figure it out.

Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano is a puzzle and the moment Leo first laid eyes on her at New Rome he knew he had to figure her out, no matter how long it took him to do it.

Of course the blowing up New Rome thing was a bit of a setback, but they've overcome that now. Now they're back on track.

She's a mystery because she is absolutely beautiful. But she's not warm, like his beautiful friend Piper is, she's cool, reserved and guarded. Where Piper is emotions and warmth and shy smiles, Reyna is calculations and rare smiles- but when you get one it's absolutely genuine and lights up the room.

Reyna is a mystery because she never tells Leo anything about her family, but from what he gathers she has an older sister who is Queen of the Amazons. He wonders why they're not together, the way he's always pictured family should be, and every time he brings it up Reyna shuts down the topic with a look.

But he keeps trying, because he's persistent and he needs to know.

He learns things from different people. Jason, for one. And Percy has the occasional insight. Hazel gives a woman's perspective and even Leo's new friend Dakota helps him understand Rome's praetor, piece-by-piece.

Until finally he feels like he's figured her out- at least enough to break down her first wall, to shatter it to pieces of brick and specks of dust. He tears it down with stupid jokes and occasional moments where it's just the two of them talking about things like their friends or family. Of responsibility and pressure and how hard it is to be the outside when everybody around you is so perfectly in love with one another.

Jason has Piper, Percy has Annabeth and Frank has Hazel. Leo has nobody but Festus.

And Reyna has no one except Aurum and Argentum.

They're similar in that way, but Reyna would stab herself before admitting it to anybody but him.

Then, on a completely random night at Camp Half-Blood, Leo kisses her and he breaks through her second, weaker wall, like a wrecking ball through wood.

She admits she doesn't get close to anybody because she's scared and used to being alone, and for a second Leo curses Jason and Percy and anybody else who was too stupid to realize what they had in Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano.

Finally one night she fully gives herself to him and there's nothing unknown between them anymore. Leo learns every secret, every piece of her, and he breaks down her third and final frail wall like a clenched fist through the thinnest of pieces of paper.

That night there is nothing but lips, tongue, teeth, and breathy whimpers. Deep groans and pleas that no one but they hear.

The night there is freedom and exultance, the likes of which they've never known because they've never been like their friends and _fallen in love_ before.

But now they have, and even though Reyna is no longer a mystery to Leo he is no less infatuated with her than he was the first second they met.


	24. Shadow

**24\. Shadow**

Reyna's gotten accustomed to shadows. Traveling across countries with Nico di'Angelo will do that to a person. And even if she still isn't comfortable with it, she thinks she's at least gotten used to death, from being around the son of the Death God himself.

She hasn't.

Because when Leo Valdez disappears after the war with Gaea, when nobody can find him and he's presumed dead even though Nico swears on every god alive that he isn't…. Reyna knows she isn't used to death at all.

The stupid, most annoying thing of all is that she shouldn't care. This boy- this short, Latino elf who cracks jokes because he's uncomfortable- blew up her home with his warship. They've barely even spoken ten words to each other, and while Reyna knows there was something between them, it isn't enough to justify her feelings.

She had seen him when he looked at her the first time they met. She heard him cracking jokes to Jason and Piper that had made her hold back a smile.

Reyna had developed a bit of a crush.

And then Leo had gone and ruined it all by shooting cannons and causing absolute mayhem, and then taking every leader with a brain on his ship and leaving her to pick up the pieces with Octavian.

Reyna has never believed in love at first sight, or true love or destiny. She believes people make their own path and have to fight for what they want and love creeps up on you, slowly, slowly, until it wraps you and grips so tight you almost never break free.

So there is absolutely no way in Hades that Reyna is in love with Leo Valdez.

But she feels his death like a battle wound, and she sees his shadow just around the corner. She hears the whisper of his jokes that made her laugh on the wind and she sees his absence on Piper and Jason's faces.

There really is no logical reason Reyna should be this affected by the son of Hephaestus' absence. It's ridiculous.

But whoever said love was logical had obviously never been in love before.


	25. Manners

**25\. Manners**

Leo Valdez had amazing manners.

Reyna first noticed when he asked her out and she (finally) agreed to go on one date with him.

He had been blushing and shy and, gods forbid, _cute_, when he finally stuttered out, "Will you, um, do you wanna eat food with me? Please?"

A good boy never forgets his manners.

Reyna agreed and stared perhaps a second longer than necessary into Leo's eyes after saying, "Sure."

He had leaned forward and kissed her, making her momentarily breathless, before pulling away as fast as he had come.

And those damn manners showed up again. "I'm sorry."

Reyna had only grinned at him. "Why?"

oooOOOooo

On their first date he was the epitome of a gentleman. She had never thought of Leo Valdez as classy before, but it appeared that he could freshen up when he wanted to. That night, after admiring his dress shirt, pants and shiny black shoes, Reyna learned that the grease stains on Leo's hands were, in fact, not permanent.

He pulled her chair out for her as they sat down at the fancy (but not _too_ fancy) restaurant. He even footed the bill that night- something Reyna had been hoping for but admittedly unsure of.

And this time, when he walked her back to her apartment building, he asked if he could kiss her.

It had been a good first date. Reyna saw no reason to end it now.

So she had kissed him back wholeheartedly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders before eventually sliding her hands up into his hair- curly but soft and oh my gods, it was silk beneath Reyna's fingers- and molded her mouth to his, uncaring of who saw them.

Because goddammit he had asked for a kiss and Reyna would give him one.

oooOOOooo

The only time Leo forgets his manners around Reyna is when he proposes; and at the time Reyna is too overcome with happiness excitement to even notice.

He gets down on one knee in their apartment, bringing a silver ring with a simple diamond out from behind him to hold out to her like an offering. "Marry me, Reyna," he says. "Because we both know you want to."

Reyna laughs and nods frantically as he slides the ring onto her finger before he stands up and she's throwing her arms around him again, bringing their foreheads to rest against one another.

"I will," she says- and because Reyna is not one to forget her manners either, and she is entirely grateful to the gods and the world for giving her this man, she hugs him and whispers into his ear, "Thank you."


	26. Distance

**26\. Distance**

Distance has never been an issue for them.

Whether it's when Reyna goes on her business trips half way across the world or when Leo is a couple of streets away at his Auto Repair Shop, it doesn't make a lick of difference. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and they also say out of sight, out of mind, but Leo doesn't agree with either.

He already loves Reyna so much, he is already helplessly caught up in everything that is _her_, that he can't grow any fonder. All absence does is make him long for her presence at his side again- all absence does is make sure he treasures every moment (or close to, at least, like any other couple they have their fights) when she is in front of him.

And he doesn't agree with out of sight, out of mind, because when Reyna is around she is all he thinks about, but when Reyna isn't around, she's still pretty much all he thinks about.

He wonders how her day is going, whether she's thinking about him too. Leo wonders if she had something cheap for lunch, like Subway, or maybe something she made beforehand. When Reyna isn't around, Leo hopes she's okay and having a nice time and that she'll come home soon because he misses her.

Another thing about them is that no matter where they are, no matter how much distance is between them, they make sure to speak to each other every night. When one of them is away for work, or visiting friends or crashing at the Jackson's (because Annabeth and Percy seem to have a permanent invitation to anyone needing a couch for the night) they will call without fail. And when they're right beside each other, like a couple should be, laying in their bed at night, they will talk in the darkness, saying things they would prefer not to see the light of day.

Leo Valdez loves Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano and no amount of fights, time or distance can change that.

Quite frankly there isn't a chance in Hades.


	27. Old

**27\. Old**

Even though growing old is something of a major achievement for demigods (at least the Greek ones, who don't have a New Rome to be safe in) Reyna knows Leo hates it.

He hates the way he can't just flop down on a skateboard and slide under a car, fixing and tinkering as he goes. He hates the wrinkles that appear one by one on his face. He complains to Reyna and she tells him he's being silly because he's still just as handsome as every to her, but it doesn't seem to be enough. His bones ache, his joints hurt and for someone so hyper-active it is hard when your body decides it wants to go the speed of a turtle.

Reyna knows this, she knows he's frustrated and upset and she knows he tries to hide it from her. He doesn't want to bother her or whatever it is he thinks he's doing by not telling her anything.

So when she catches him studying himself in their bathroom mirror one day she decides she's had enough.

"What are you doing?" She asks and she slides her arms around his waist from behind him, resting her head on his (slightly stooped) shoulder.

"Nothing."

"Leo Valdez, you really are a horrible liar."

He sighs and his breath rattles slightly. "I hate being old."

Reyna sighed too, but out of exasperation. "Leo."

"Yeah?"

"Do you wish you were young again? You want to be 24 and smooth skinned and dark haired?"

"Being young was nice, Reyna, don't you miss it?" Leo asks her with a frown.

She frowns right back at him. "It was nice." She said. "But it wasn't perfect. When we were 24 we did not have our three beautiful children. When we were 42, our youngest grandchild wasn't born yet. At 50 we never got to see little Marty enter grade six. At 65 our youngest grandchild was just graduating high-school." Reyna put her hands on her hips. "Are you telling me you would rather go back and not experience those things?"

"Of course not, Rey, it's just-"

"Just what?"

Leo looks back at the mirror forlornly. "I hate being _old_."

"Leo Valdez," Reyna takes his hand and leads him out of the bathroom and away from the accursed mirror. "We are not old, we are _experienced_."


	28. Movie

**28\. Movie**

"It's just a movie," Leo said a bit nervously, glancing anxiously around them as he held her hand on the sidewalk, their cold breath misting in the dark night air.

Reyna looked up and down as Leo looked side to side- you never knew where a monster might come from. "Just a movie," Reyna said. "Two hours, give or take a half hour. No problem."

"It'll be fine." Leo agreed, squeezing her fingers between his own, shooting her a casual smile. "Just a regular date."

Reyna groaned. "Regular dates usually involve us ending up at home covered in monster dust and you convincing random homeless men that the thing that attacked us was a crazy pigeon and not a flock of gryphons."

Leo waggled his eyebrows. "But we almost always end up in the shower. Together."

Reyna would later swear that the red on her cheeks was from the cold- she most definitely did not blush. "To preserve water…" She trailed off, knowing she was bullshitting. "Wouldn't want to unnecessarily harm the environment."

Leo's eyes sparkled. "I never said anything."

"Shut up."

"I never said anything!"

"Still." Reyna smiled at him, strands of her hair getting in her face as she did so.

Leo's eyes softened and he reached up with his free hand to push the strands back behind her ear, the tips of his cold fingers (he was wearing cut-off finger mitts) leaving a line of warmth on her face.

She led the way into the warm movie theatre and immediately they were hit with the overwhelming aroma of buttery popcorn.

"So…" Leo looked around at the posters on the wall showing what movies were currently playing. "What are we watching?"

Reyna frowned. "I thought you said you had tonight all planned out?"

"I did." Leo said. "I planned on us going to a movie. Now what do you want to see?"

Reyna bit her tongue lightly. Don't get upset over a stupid little thing, she thought to herself. Now you get to watch what you want.

Her eyes alighted on a poster and she grinned. "Well there's a tenth anniversary rerun of the Notebook playing…"

"What?" Leo tore his eyes away from the arcade area. "Oh no, come on! Look, we saw that… last year sometime. How about the third Hunger Games movie? It's playing."

"We saw that at Camp," Reyna said. "Thanks to the Stolls somehow stealing a projector from the theatre."

"And it was great, you agreed! So we could always-"

"I want to watch the Notebook."

"But-"

"Okay, okay," Reyna conceded. "We won't watch the Notebook."

Leo relaxed. "Thanks gods. Anything else, you can choose anything else and I promise I'll watch it without complaint-"

Reyna looked around herself once more before her face lit up. "Remember that movie I was telling you we should go see sometime?"

"What movie?"

Reyna pointed at the poster. "It's called the Fault in Our Stars," she said, taking his hand and dragging him to the concession stand to buy both treats and tickets. "Don't worry," she said, kissing his cheek, "I'm sure you'll love it."

Later that night (after a hellhound did attack them from an alley on the way home) Leo would tell her he hated the movie and that he had absolutely not been crying in the theatre.

Reyna later bought the book and she wisely didn't say anything when she caught Leo half way through it while sitting on the toilet in their bathroom.

Needless to say she later bought the movie as well.


	29. Celebration

**29\. Celebrate**

"And look!" Leo's excitement was contagious and Reyna found herself grinning and gazing anxiously at what he brought out from behind his back. "I even got champagne."

"And they say romance is dead." Reyna said appreciatively.

"I think you're talking about chivalry."

Reyna leaned up and kissed him. "It doesn't matter," she said. "Thank you."

His smile turned softer. "You just became a partner of your dream law firm." Leo said, grabbing a corkscrew. "Who knows _why_ you want to be a lawyer, but apparently you're a damn good one. It's a cause for celebration." He started to unscrew the cork. "Besides, I'll need you to defend me if I ever commit a crime. Like murdering Drew. She makes me want to get my hammer…." He shook his head. "Anyway, I might kill her someday. So I'm only buttering you up to get a good deal for when I need a lawyer."

"Oh yeah?" Reyna asked, putting her hands up to rest behind his neck. "It has nothing to do with you being proud of your wife? Or happy for me?"

"Nope. Not a thing."

Reyna pouted, feeling playful. "It's not to celebrate my achievement?"

"Nah, you can do that without my help."

"And these chocolates?" Reyna gestured to the box Leo had given her that now sat beside them on the counter beside two champagne glasses. "Those are more bribery?"

"Definitely."

"Hmm.." Reyna tapped her chin. "I want more."

"More?" Leo's eyebrows drew together and he became serious. "Really? I could take you out for dinner…. or we could have a party or something-"

"No." Reyna stood on her tiptoes, getting very close to his face, close enough for her breath to ghost across his lips. "Something else."

"What would that be?" Leo whispered, but by the bob of his Adam's apple and the darkened look in his eyes Reyna was pretty sure he had figured it out.

She decided to give him a hint anyway.

She surged up and pressed her lips to his, arms tightening around his neck as his mouth opened in a groan and her tongue gladly accepted the invitation.

Reyna was just about to pull away and make her way to their bedroom- because she liked sex with Leo anywhere, but she was in the mood for being comfortable- when the sound of a pop filled the room.

And she felt champagne fall down her hair to trickle down her back.

Leo's eyes widened as she let out a very undignified shriek.

"Leo!"

To Reyna's dismay there was no fear in his eyes at her angry tone. The corners of his lips twitched, and then he smiled and, after a few seconds, he couldn't seem to hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

Reyna felt champagne drip down her face making her mascara run.

"Forget it." She turned, intending to go and take a shower, but Leo grabbed her wrist and stopped her flush against him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To wash off," Reyna glowered, "because _someone_ just covered me in champagne."

Leo grinned wolfishly. "I could help with that," he said, before shocking her into staying still as he leaned forward and slowly licked up a trail of champagne from her cheek.

Reyna's breath caught. "Leo…"

"You should wash your face," he admitted. "Because right now you look like a raccoon. A beautiful, sexy raccoon…. but a raccoon."

"Shut up."

Leo smiled at her. "Congratulations," he said softly before letting her lead the way to the shower. "My sexy, lovely lawyer wife."

That night they definitely had a celebration.


	30. Breathe

**30\. Breathe**

"Why not?" Leo demanded.

Reyna looked at him incredulously. "Why not? Leo!" Her voice was rising without her meaning it to, but she couldn't seem to help it. She was a crescendo of emotions. Anger, insecure, wary, hurt, _afraid_. "We've only been dating for a month and- you just asked me to _marry you_!"

"So?" He asked her, insecurity flickering in his own eyes. "You admit to me last night that you never even thought a love like this existed- and neither did I. Isn't that enough? Or was that a lie?"

"Don't be stupid," Reyna lashed out in her confusion. "Of course I'm in love with you Leo, but I can't marry you."

"Why?" He shouted at her again. "You keep saying, over and over again about how it's too fast. But we don't need to marry right away, we can wait years if you want. I just- I know that I don't want to spend the rest of my life bound to anybody but you. Don't you feel the same?"

"You don't understand, you've never lost someone before…"

She trailed off at the shocked look on his face and the hardening of his eyes, realizing what she'd just said.

"My mother died in a fire because of me." Leo told her quietly. "I know what it's like to lose someone you love."

"I didn't mean… I wasn't finished." Reyna said weakly. "You've never been abandoned by somebody you love. I've been abandoned by my father since I was born, left by my sister, left by Jason when I thought I was in love with him… It hurts, Leo, and I'm scared that when you wake up tomorrow, or in a month or a year and realize who you've chosen to be with you'll want to leave too."

Leo shook his head. "My mom dying proved that I have to make the most of every single second I have with you. I want to put a ring on your finger to show everybody else that you are _mine_. And I know you, we've talked about this before. People leaving isn't the only reason, is it?"

"Leo…"

"What is it, Reyna?" He moved forward and grabbed her hands in his. "Is it because I snore? I'll stop, I swear. I'll invent something to make me stop snoring permanently."

She had to laugh, weakly, at that. "No."

"Then _what_?" He asked in frustration.

Reyna snapped. "It's because I wanted to say yes!" She cried. "Because we've only been dating for _a month_ and you just asked me to _marry_ you, and I wanted to say yes. That's not how it works, that's not how _I_ work. I think things through, I plan, I do what's best for everybody. But when I'm around you I do what I want, and it's absolutely _crazy_. It's because I'm afraid that you'll end up like everybody else and leave. Leo, when I'm around you I can't even _breathe_, but without you I'd be broken. It's because if you ever did decide to leave after I've let myself believe we were married and going to be forever and getting our happily ever after, it would _destroy_ me. And that scares me, Leo, because I don't want to let myself believe that if it's just going to crash and burn around us."

Leo's eyes searched hers before moving to wrap his arms around her waist as she relaxed instinctively against him. "Kiss me."

"What?"

"Kiss me," Leo said softly, pushing back a strand of her hair. "And then tell me if you don't think we're forever."


	31. Fruit

**Just warning you all right now, this is complete crack. I don't know where it came from but... this was the result.**

**31\. Fruit**

"No way."

"Come on."

"Nuh uh."

"Please?"

"Reyna, no!"

Jason and Piper stopped just inside Bunker Nine, out of view of their two friends. Piper looked at Jason, Jason looked at Piper, and both had curious looks on their faces.

"Leo, I think- no, I know this would be good for us. Think of all of the things we could do-"

"No."

"Look how juicy it is."

Piper's eyes widened and Jason's hand tightened around hers as his face flamed.

What exactly were they _listening_ to?

"What if I spray you?"

"You won't. Honestly Leo, that doesn't happen _that_ often."

"It tastes weird…"

Jason choked at Leo's words and after a few seconds a horrorstruck Piper heard him continue. "It's sort of… mushy…"

Jason looked a lovely shade of green by now.

"But isn't it good?"

Sounds of people shuffling reached them once more and Piper squeezed her eyes shut, desperately trying to not imagine anything.

"Okay, okay." Leo admitted grudgingly. "You win. I like it."

"Good!" Reyna's voice was higher than usual. "Now I want a taste…"

She trailed off and there was some more fumbling, scrapes of a chair moving and Piper felt something like sick work its way up her throat.

Oh gods, she had to get out of here…

"Jason," she hissed.

Jason seemed to be staring in a state of shock at the floor.

"Jason!" She tried again, nudging him.

"What?" He yelped, louder than Piper had wanted.

The voices and movements stopped until a second later Reyna appeared, perfectly dressed and completely calm. "Oh hey. What are you guys doing just standing here?"

"We…"

Leo appeared beside her- also looking… normal.

And holding a half-eaten orange.

Piper's face flamed at the same time Jason's did. Oh wow…

"I was just getting Leo to eat an orange," Reyna looked victorious. "You know how much he hates fruit."

Leo rolled his eyes. "I've decided I like oranges," he muttered. "But Piper, don't you dare start trying to make me eat apples or pomegranates or something."

Piper set aside her embarrassment momentarily. "Why would I-"

Leo wagged a finger at her, snapping after. "I know how you girls get," he said in a mock teenage girl voice. "Trying to eat salads and fruit and vegetables instead of actual food. Am I right, Jason?"

Jason broke out of whatever stupor he was stuck in. "Huh? Yeah."

Piper frowned. "I'm a vegetarian, Leo, there's nothing wrong with that."

"And I like meat." Reyna said.

Leo waggled his eyebrows at her. "Well I know _that_."

Jason coughed. "Okay!" He said too brightly. "I just remembered- I promised Annabeth we'd spar… I gotta go."

And the ditcher totally left Piper standing alone stuttering half formed words with a red face.

Because she really did not need to hear about how Reyna was a… meat lover, after what she had just thought she heard.

"I have to go help him." She finally said, before turning and rushing out of Bunker Nine, ready to smack her boyfriend for leaving her in that situation.

Needless to say, Reyna and Leo were left standing very confused behind them.


	32. Loser

**32\. Loser**

"You totally suck!" Leo exclaimed gleefully.

3 minutes later…

"I own you!"

2 minutes and several snappish retorts from Reyna later…

"Seriously, Rey, how is it possible for somebody to be this bad at Halo?"

Reyna pressed a button on her controller to pause the game and stood up, proclaiming, "That's it. I'm done. Call Jason or Nico over. There is no way I'm playing with you anymore."

"Wha-?" A gummy worm hung comically half out of the corner of Leo's mouth as he looked up at her from the screen. "What are you talking about?"

"You," Reyna dragged out the word. "Are a bad winner."

Leo looked at her for a few seconds before getting the candy fully into his mouth and then standing up. "Oh no," he countered in the same haughty tone. "You're a poor loser."

"I most definitely am not." Reyna snapped from where she was grating cheese over a plate of tortilla chips. "Do you want nachos?"

"Please." Leo said, even as he came around the counter to stand with her. "And you most definitely _are_," he repeated. "Everyone gloats when they play videogames, its human nature; and if it was you I would probably still be watching your lone victory-dance party in the living room. I was _tame_ by your standards."

"That is not true!"

"Ahem," Leo fake coughed. "Remember when the two Camps had a capture the flag game and they called Percy and Annabeth back from camp to go on Camp Half-Bloods side with Piper and the rest of the campers? Remember when, even though you had Frank, Hazel, Jason, yourself- and last but definitely most important, moi, plus an entire legion of hardened demigods, Camp Jupiter lost? Remember how I got no sex for a week because apparently I distracted you when you were making war plans? Remember that? Because I do."

"That is so…." Reyna trailed off at his raised eyebrow.

"True? I think so too."

"Ridiculous." Reyna finished. "I would not do that. And I am not a bad loser!"

"You are," Leo said, taking a nacho from the offered plate in front of him. "But only in front of me. With the others you feel like you have to be nice and polite and accommodating."

Reyna frowned, crunching down on a chip. "I'm not nice around you?"

Leo backtracked hastily, recognizing the look in his girlfriend's eye. "Not- well nice isn't the right word- more like-"

Reyna grinned. "Just teasing."

They munched on their snack from a few minutes, leaning on their elbows on opposite sides of the counter, until Reyna sighed. "Okay." She said. "Let's finish the damn ame."

Leo was, in one word, surprised. "Seriously?"

"Don't push it."

They brought the plate over and restarted the game- but one thing Leo realized, too late, was that food and videogames were not a good combination for him.

Because Reyna had made a lot of nachos. And all of them looked tempting. He kept neglecting the game to reach forward to grab one from the table, missing his shots and continually getting hit.

In the end… Reyna won.

"You cheated," he mumbled dejectedly, staring at the now empty plate of former nachos.

"Did not." She said gleefully. "Part of war is strategy, and when you see you're losing you have to change strategy and think ahead."

Leo met her eyes. "That wasn't fair."

"Now who's the bad loser?" Reyna teased. "Anyway, I'm the winner. That means I get a prize."

"Which is?"

Reyna grinned wickedly. "Just you wait. I promise you, we'll both be winners tonight."


	33. Promise

**Of course when I should be studying for exams I'm once again writing more for this couple. They've started to take over... and I can't say I mind. (And I apologize for the angst spam in these chapters, it's all I can think of with these more recent prompts.)**

**33\. Promise**

"What do you want from me?"

Leo studiously avoided looking his girlfriend- if she was still that- in the eye. "Nothing," he retorted between hammerings of the metal blade of a sword. Reyna made to move towards him and he turned his back, plunging the glowing element into a pail of water, watching the steam rise and definitely not glancing sideways to her only to stop himself a moment too late. "You obviously don't need my opinion-"

"Don't be stupid-

"-and are fine with making decisions without even _telling_ me first-"

"-I'm not betraying you in any way-"

"-and you're fine with letting me hear it from Piper. You didn't even tell me, Reyna. I had to be blindsided from _Piper_ instead of my having own girlfriend even give a hint."

"I was going to tell you- I haven't decided anything yet, it was just to see if I would get in…"

Leo finally looked up. "We made a promise." He told her quietly before looking back down, watching his knuckles whiten from his hold on the hammer's handle, seeing it tremble as it hung uselessly at his side. "We said we would go to college together- that we wouldn't let something as stupid as school let us break up. New Rome, we said. Or do you forget all of that?"

"Of course I remember," Reyna said desperately. "But Leo, this is Harvard! I never thought I would be good enough- I never thought I would make it. I just applied to see if I would get in- and Leo, I did! I would have thought-" She broke off, her voice getting quieter and she finally looked down. "I thought you would have been happy for me."

Leo felt his throat constrict and his eyes burn and he looked down, telling himself it was the smoke- which had never bothered him before. He sickened himself, really he did. What kind of guy- what kind of man, didn't congratulate his girlfriend on getting into one of the best schools in the world? How much of an asshole was he, to not even give her a smile?

But he was scared.

He had seen too many couples from the camps split up because of long-distance relationships- and he knew there was absolutely no chance in Hades he would ever be able to make it into Harvard.

"We promised we wouldn't let college break us up." He said finally, turning away from her once more, hating himself just a little bit more when he did. "After we said we could go to New Rome together."

Reyna let out a shaky breath and Leo felt his heart break- because he knew he had just failed some unspoken test.

"We did." Reyna finally said. "But even if I do go to Harvard, I'm not the one saying we'll have to break that promise." She paused. "I promise, I swear to you, _I'm_ not the one walking away here."

Leo started hammering again and, not even a minute later, when he turned around, an apology, a plea, already forming on his lips, she wasn't there to hear it.

Her words rang in his mind. She may not have been the one walking away (figuratively) but she was the one leaving. (Maybe.)

Yet which one of them was the one breaking their promise?


	34. Teacher

**34\. Teacher**

Reyna moaned listlessly against Leo's neck, sweat-slicked skin sliding against each other as she did so. "Harder."

Leo obliged and Reyna almost let out a scream as he hit _that spot_ inside of her, over and_ over_ again, only barely muffling the sound by biting the salty skin where his neck met his shoulder.

If a passing teacher- or student for that matter- heard them, they'd be in big trouble.

And if somehow her dad found out…

She scratched her nails down his back, causing Leo to let out a groan, deep from his chest, making him thrust harder and deeper and oh _gods_…

She came with a cry and Leo hurriedly covered her mouth with his hand, his fingers chasing against her lips until eventually she calmed down and slumped against him, even as he kept moving against her.

The wall hurt her back, but her eyes opened lazily and, with pleasure still thrumming deep within her, she turned her head and took one of his fingers into her mouth, swirling her tongue and sucking until he practically collapsed against her with a guttural sound, barely managing to turned and slide down the wall carefully.

She ended up straddling him, her tongue still swirling his finger until he pulled his hand away to thread the fingers through her hair and bring her mouth roughly to his own.

Because while Reyna supposed she might love this man, this boy- Leo Valdez, the goofy, bad boy/ troublemaker of their class with his friend Percy Jackson- he most definitely did not know that, or feel the same, and they were not a couple who had slow, languid love-making.

Well, except for the first time… But no. They had promised to never speak of, or do it again.

(The broke the second promise two weeks later, but the first they had held firm. Reyna losing her virginity was known to nobody but them, and the gentle caresses and sweet words and pleas were theirs and theirs alone, never to be repeated.)

Leo was rough passion, and Reyna loved that. She was a clumsy maiden who went on instinct and instinct alone.

And hear, with Leo's tongue plundering his mouth, searching relentlessly for something, anything, Reyna moved against him and he groaned into her mouth, letting her swallow it and she moved her mouth to his neck to suck at his pulse point.

When they had been partnered for a school project she had been a stumbling, naïve virgin. A month later, she was no longer a virgin, but still inexperienced.

But now, more than half a year later, she was learning.

Because while Leo may have been a below-average student at school, he was a very excellent teacher.

And on those rare moments when they spend more than fifteen minutes together for their dose of one another, and Reyna spots something deeper and real in his eyes, she hopes she might be teaching him something as well.


	35. Determination

**35\. Determination**

The first time she had known nothing about him beyond his name and that he had a humor she found funny, despite herself. Really, what else was there to know about the boy who became possessed by a demon/monster, blew up the only home you'd ever really known, and then went on to save the world from a goddess more powerful than the Olympian Council put together? (Not that Reyna would ever dare utter a word of that in front of Jupiter.)

"Will you go out with me?"

Reyna looked up from the new cohort's building plans to meet the eyes of the boy Jason had brought from Camp Half-Blood to Camp Jupiter. "Excuse me?"

He had grinned a playful grin, but his eyes held insecurity- the only thing that stopped Reyna from regarding him as little more than a bug to be squashed and sending him on his way. "Do you want to go on a date with me?"

Reyna didn't know what to do.

She had never been asked out before. Boys her age found her intimidating, men older than her set their sights elsewhere, and Jason and Percy… well, the only two boys she had ever envisioned a future with had already found their soulmates.

And Leo Valdez, this scrawny, elf-like Hispanic, was asking Reyna out on a date when she barely knew him.

How could she accept when every time she looked at Jason with Piper her heart ached? How could she honestly tell him she would like to go on a date with him when seeing Percy and Annabeth together made bitter jealousy fill Reyna's mouth? When Aphrodite's words, 'no demigod or mortal shall heal your heart', rang in her ears.

So she tells him, with regret lacing her tongue for reasons unbeknownst to her, no.

But Leo is nothing if not determined, and Reyna soon discovers that his determination is something to be rivaled.

He keeps asking in random , intensely, it doesn't matter, he asks and there's something she hears but doesn't know in his voice as he does. Yet she keeps saying no.

But during the time he stays at Camp Jupiter he takes up her time, creeps into her thoughts and, eventually, makes his way into her heart. He seems to always be around and eventually Reyna stops reminding herself to be annoyed.

He makes her laugh and when they hang out with their friends he's one person she can count on to be alone, not in a relationship, like her. They gravitate towards one another.

And one night, after a particularly emotional talk about lost loved ones, wishes, dreams, family and friends, Leo asks her again.

Reyna hesitates before shaking her head and saying, 'I can't."

"Why?" He asks. "I know you like me."

She nods, because she's admitted it to herself by now. "Aphrodite told me once I would never find love with a demigod."

She tells him the story and to her surprise he doesn't look disappointed or sad. He just raises his eyebrows and shakes his head.

"What?" She asks when he hasn't said anything after several moments of silence. "What is it?"

"Reyna," he meets her eyes seriously- perhaps for the first time in his life- and takes her hands as they sit by the water's shore. "If I've learned one thing about you, it's that you are stubborn. If you're determined to do something than you can."

Reyna shook her head. "It's not that simple-"

"I've also learned," Le interrupted her. "That even gods make mistakes."

Finally Leo's determination pays off and Reyna says yes.


	36. Adventure

**36\. Adventure**

Many people will tell you love is an adventure.

Some, Leo supposes, will say that the only worthwhile loves are the ones where your heart breaks and disappointment reigns until, finally, two people can't stay away from one another any longer and they get their happily ever after.

Others might say a calm, dependable love is best. One that is steady and constant, unquestionable. Of course, the couple will have their challenges, but there is no hopeless struggle, or surrender to whatever life throws at you if you are not with the one you love.

Honestly, he couldn't tell you which is better. It would be nice to have a quiet life with the one you love, of that there is no doubt, but Leo doesn't think he would be satisfied without the passion and _feeling_.

You know the one. You must. If you've been in love- in love like Leo was, with the uncertainty and the risk and the sacrifice- then you must know. The feeling you get when you know, without a doubt, no matter what happens, the person you love loves you back just as much.

It's that moment, that feeling, that keeps Leo going.

Love with Reyna, because that is who Leo loves, Reyna, the girl who he is absolutely sure is his soulmate, is an adventure.

It started with school.

Leo had just got stuck at a new foster home- don't ask- and was now sent to Half-Blood High.

If it wasn't for his new friends, Piper, Jason, Percy, Frank, Hazel and Annabeth, he probably would have left the first day.

If it weren't for Reyna he definitely would have left before the end of the year. Because no matter where he went, or who he stayed with, no matter how nice the family was, none of them could replace his mother.

But somehow, despite him telling himself not to, he made friends. And with friends came roots and with roots came the need to stay.

Hedge partnered them up for an English project, Reyna invited him to her place (when her dad conveniently wasn't there) to work on it a few weeks after he had first come to the school and he had kissed her.

From there… it had been one of the passionate torturous loves.

Her father told her she couldn't date. It was a secret. They met in secret corners- at the start it was sexual, with no ties closer than a brief friendship. Eventually it wasn't just about the sex and the mystery of Reyna Arellano.

Eventually he got to know her, and that was worse. This path he was letting himself go down was dangerous- his heart was in serious danger from this girl.

No matter how many nights he stayed awake thinking about her, about leaving this home, about leaving his friends, he always went to school the next day.

Leo had heard a lot about forbidden loves and tragedies. He had heard of Romeo and Juliet. And while he was expecting nothing as horrific as suicide and poison in their ending, he was sure it couldn't end well with them.

Because she was a drug, one that he would inevitably have to quit. Somehow, sometime, they would have to stop.

Leo knew he couldn't do it. He didn't have the strength for that.

But he also knew that in stories soulmates got their happy endings. And that his adventure with Reyna, their love story, was far from over.


	37. Wild

**37\. Wild**

What they have… it's raw.

It's raw and untamable. It's wild passion and peaceful afternoons and neither of them get sick of it. They have their fights- yelling and screaming at one another, throwing empty vases to smash against the wall, accusations of stupid, meaningless crimes, but it's okay.

Because what they have… it's _real_.

They both know it and they both treasure it. That's why, even when they fight, neither of them ever storms out or threatens to leave- they know it would be impossible, unthinkable, to be without one another now. Maybe before, earlier, they would have managed- scraped by with only memories to haunt them. Now they're in too deep. Their hearts are consumed by one another and its foolishness to try to delude themselves into thinking they could live- not merely survive, but actually _live_\- without each other at their side.

So when Reyna gets the phone call from Piper- "Leo's just been brought into the hospital, he's been in a car crash"- it's a deep, staggering blow.

Because even the gods, even the Fates, could not be so cruel as to rip them away from one another now.

Reyna gets there, not remembering the drive. She meets Piper in her nurse's scrubs and tries to listen but all of her words are coming as if Reyna's just been drugged- she doesn't understand.

The hospital smells bad. Like antiseptic and sick and _clean_ and Reyna doesn't like it.

She wants home. Leo. She wants to smell car oil, or gasoline. She wants the smell of lasagna, her favourite food, his best dish, and wants to see a fresh pan waiting for her to get home from her lawyers office with him in an apron standing proudly behind it.

She does not want to see Piper walk into the room Leo is currently in, lying on an operating table.

She does not want to see the shocked, grief-stricken pale face of one of her best friends walking back out of same room in a daze.

Because she knows what that means. And she knows, by the painful thump of her slowing heart, that there is absolutely nothing she can do.

It must have been frightful, she reflects later, to witness what came over her at that moment. Reyna was no longer happy and wild with glee and love- she was a mindless, desperate wife who yells and screams, thrashes and kicks to try to get into the operating room because if she can get there, if she can make it, Leo might wake up.

For her. She's the only one who could do it and goddamn it, why were they restraining her and dragging her away when she was supposed to be moving forward?

Her husband was in there.

Reyna must have been too violent, too crazed. A needle filled with sedative jabs into her neck. She's overcome with grief so sharp, so poignant, while her blood trudges through her veins, her brain numbs and her heart breaks into tiny little pieces.

Nobody but Leo could pick them up.

But Leo isn't here anymore.

How, Reyna wonders, staring out of the hospital window, is it possible for something like this to have happened in one day?

How is it possible to lose the only thing you care about and have your life completely turned upside down in only one day?

Nobody is left to answer her questions.


	38. Suspense

**38\. Suspense**

It's not the worry that makes the wait unbearable. Or the panic. It isn't Piper and Jason's six-year-old daughter tugging anxiously at his hand without fully realizing what's going on. Marlie's innocence isn't what's causing Leo to shake uncontrollably.

It's the suspense.

The goddamn waiting. Because Reyna is in the hospital room in front of him and Percy- who lost Annabeth in the birth of their second child- is beside him.

And Leo is waiting in suspense to see if his wife and baby girl has made it- because when the nurses had to push him out of the room (when his voice was rising when he needed his wife to open her eyes, and why was her breathing slowing?) and he may not be as smart as Annabeth had been but he knew what it meant when the husband was made to leave the room right after the baby had been born.

He knows what that means.

But he isn't sure, and it's the suspense that's killing him.

Piper, who works here at the hospital as a nurse, left the room shortly after he did, leaning against the doorframe of Reyna's room door, shaking, with her hand covering her mouth and breathing deeply.

Leo took once glimpse at her on his way back from getting coffee at the cafeteria- because it had been ten minutes and he was trying to stay calm and normal- but had turned right back around and walked the way he had come, throwing out his cup of coffee in a passing trashcan.

It had only burned his tongue and tasted like dirt in his mouth anyway.

Now almost an hour later Piper is gone from the doorway- he doesn't know where she is, but Jason has also left so they might be downstairs in the cafeteria- and he is in the nearest waiting area and Percy is sitting beside him and Marlie- cute little six-year-old Marlie who is his best friends' daughter- is tugging on his sleeve with a worried face, not knowing what's going on and asking where Auntie Reyna is.

Now all Leo can think about is Reyna, and what's happening, and why isn't anybody telling him anything? All he knows is the image of Piper, shaking and covering her mouth from horror or fear, leaning against a door because she can't stand to see what is inside the room. He thinks about Percy, and if this was how he felt before the doctor told him that their youngest child had lived but his wife had died. He thinks about Annabeth, and about whether Reyna might be joining her soon. He wonders if that's what Piper is thinking too. If that's what caused her to nearly break down. Because she's seen this before.

He thinks about himself, and wonders if he's going to have to live without half of himself for the rest of his life.

And Leo remembers what Percy had been like for weeks after Annabeth's death. The kids had come to stay with Reyna and him, and then Piper and Jason, then Hazel and Frank and Grover and Juniper. Percy hadn't even been able to look at them.

Nico and Thalia had checked up on him and hadn't liked what they saw.

Was the same thing about to happen to Leo? Was it going to be him laying in bed, not finding the strength to move. Would it be him who would put all the pictures face down and neglect his own child?

He didn't know.

And the suspense was killing him.


	39. News

**39\. News**

"Leo…"

"What is it, Rey?" He asked as he grabbed his keys and shut off the TV, which had been playing the News Channel. "Is it _that time_ again? Do you want me to grab something from the store on the way home?"

"Leo, I have some news…"

"-I'll grab both just in case," he continued from whatever he had been saying- Reyna wasn't listening, too busy thinking through what she had just learned. "And how about something sweet? Brownies or chocolate chip cookies?"

"I-"

"Maybe I'll get both," he glanced at her quickly before taking a bottle of water from the fridge to take a quick drink. "Zeus knows you'll eat them all-"

"Leo."

Her husband of five years finally seemed to hear the serious tone of her voice and he stopped, water in hand, just after he'd opened the fridge to put it away. He looked at her before his eyes traveled down to where her hands were resting, as if unable to move, on her stomach.

He swallowed. "Reyna?"

She moved forward. "Leo." She said for the fourth time, wonder and a slight hint of panic in her tone. "Leo, I-"

He moved towards her after she stood there in silence, struggling to get the words out. He reached out to hold her hands with his own, his eyes moving from her abdomen to meet her eyes.

Of course, Leo, who knew her so well, who could read her like an open book, had figured it out without her needing to say it.

"You're pregnant?"

She nodded, bobbing her head, and held out the pregnancy test that had been in her hand the entire time. "I missed a period… I didn't want to tell you in case it was nothing…"

He looked down at the pink plus sign before meeting her eyes again. "We're pregnant?"

She smiled, finally, glad that he wasn't freaking out like she had been three seconds ago. "Definitely. I checked three times."

Leo's smile was slow, but it seemed to light up the entire apartment. "We're going to have a baby?"

Reyna nodded again, more enthusiastically this time. "We're going to have a baby!"

Leo let out a whoop and caught her by surprise when he slid his arms around her to lift her up and spin her around, clasping her tight to him as he did. He set her down gently and thread his fingers through her hair at the back of her head before kissing her again and again and again.

"Pregnant," he said again in wonder.

Reyna smiled brightly. "You're going to be a dad."

Leo's eyes absolutely sparkled. "And you're going to be a _mom_!"

Reyna threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again. "We're going to be a family," she mumbled against his lips.

Leo only kissed her harder in response.


	40. Oblivion

**40\. Oblivion**

Oblivion, the End of the World, Armageddon. Call it what you will, the potential extinction of everyone you love on earth isn't so scary when the person you love is at your side.

It's still terrifying. It still makes Leo shake in his Reeboks and grip Reyna's hand with a vise-like grip; but it would be so much worse if he was facing it alone.

Reyna's always given him strength, even by just being there. Now he needs it more than ever.

He looks around at his friends, sees the grim determination on their pale, stricken faces, and he feels anger.

Because they've already saved the world multiple times over and this isn't _fair._

Piper is holding Jason's hand and he is whispering things into her ear and Leo looks away because he's already told them both his goodbyes and he just can't stand to watch his friends- who should have grown up to be old and grey with grandchildren- say goodbye to one another.

He spots Frank and Hazel, the girl wrapped in the big guy's arms, almost completely hidden from view, and he wonders how much they would give to have had more time together.

Leo suspects Hazel would raise all of the precious metal from under the earth for just one more day.

Then there is Annabeth and Percy, and Leo doesn't know why but they hurt the most. Because Annabeth has silent tears streaming down her face and Leo thinks there is a reason he has never wanted to see Annabeth cry- seeing it shocks him.

Annabeth is crying and Percy has a broken, helpless look devoid of any hope and he wonders, as they watch fire rage around them and storms tear the oceans apart, what it must be like to have hoped for a happy ending your entire life only to never get it.

The other campers surround them, some parents and other mortal loved ones have crossed into Camp Half-Blood- the wards failed hours ago and Sally and Paul Blofis were the first to run across and hug both Annabeth and Percy tightly.

But Leo and Reyna stand alone, hands linked, a little way away from their friends.

There is nothing he can say to her, but he thinks hopeless dreams. _I wish we could have had more time, I'll never stop loving you, we'll be together, you'll still have to put up with me in the Underworld._ All of these flash through his mind but he doesn't say anything because when you're about to be killed by an evil goddess older than the Gods and trying to think of what you're last words could be, nothing is good enough.

He wants the last thing he sees to be Reyna's face and the last thing he tastes to be Reyna's lips. He wants her voice to be the last thing he hears and wants her hand to be the last touch he feels.

So he grabs her and pulls her to him, kissing her roughly. It's a good kiss, slow, but it's also demanding, because he _needs_ this, like a druggie needs his next hit. This has to last, has to be enough- and it is. Because he's finally calm. Her hand is in his, her taste making his lips tingle, her face in his sight.

And when she speaks her words ring in his ears. "I love you, Leo."

Those are the last words he hears before fire surrounds them and waves crash into the earth and the very ground beneath them breaks.

Oblivion.


	41. Dance

**41\. Dance**

"…now would you all please stand and help me in welcoming the new Mr. and Mrs. Valdez!"

Will's voice echoed from the microphone where he had been speaking on stage with some other Apollo kids. Nico had suggested to Reyna, who'd sweet-talked Leo, and somehow Will Solace and his siblings had ended up as the entertainment in the Valdez's marriage reception.

The couple walked in, Leo in his tux from earlier during the ceremony, Reyna in her wedding dress, and every pair of eyes focused on them before their guests all broke into wide smiles and began to clap.

"They're clapping for you," Leo murmured into his wife's ear as they smiled back at everyone happily. "You look beautiful."

Reyna turned to meet his gaze, eyes soft. "They're clapping for _us_." She said. "Because these are our friends and they know how happy we'll be together. And they're happy for us."

"Well this would have happened sooner if somebody had just said yes the first time I proposed."

Reyna continued smiling to their guests. "Don't make me punch you in front of all of our friends, honey."

Leo's grin widened as he led her to the cleared space in the middle of the room- obviously the dance floor. "Are you ready?" He asked.

"Please," Reyna said, unconcerned. "I know how to dance. The question is, can you?"

Leo continued smiling before placing one arm behind his back and bowing as music started up once again and he held out a hand to his newly wed wife. "Will you take the risk?"

"I'm never one to back down from a challenge." Reyna said, sliding her hand into his and placing her other hand on his shoulder when he stood back up.

Leo pulled her closer gently- causing his wife to let out a startled sound, although she denied it later- and put his lips by her ear. "Luckily for you," he started before pulling away only to then pull closer again. "I've been practicing."

Reyna rest her head on his shoulder lightly as they moved around the dancefloor. "Our first dance as husband and wife," she mused. "So far I'm impressed."

"You should be." Leo said. "You do not want to know how long I spent dancing with Jason when Piper was at work, trying to get these steps right."

Reyna laughed. "And you did this for me? You hate dancing."

Leo rolled his eyes. "When are you going to realize that I would do anything for you?"

Reyna's grip tightened. "Don't say that," she said quietly, but still loud enough to be heard over Will. "It makes me think… everyone says things like that before bad things happen to them."

"Nothing's going to happen." Leo said. "We just got married, Rey. Relax a bit."

"I can't," she muttered. "If you wanted a relaxed wife you should have asked Drew to marry you. I have a feeling that girl never thinks anything through."

Leo's lips twitched. "True, I did know you were uptight when I asked you to marry me." He admitted. "I know who you are, Reyna, and what you're like. But I was hoping, even if you couldn't _relax_, maybe you could be _happy_ at our wedding."

Reyna pulled her away. "I am happy."

Leo met her eyes. "Are you?"

Reyna's eyes softened and she did relax. "Very." She promised. "Whenever I'm with you," she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I am irreversibly happy. Now shut up and dance with me Mr. Valdez."

Leo smiled into her hair. "Gladly, Mrs. Valdez."


	42. Dense

**42\. Dense**

"So what's the plan?" Piper asked.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Pipes," Katie spoke from where she was laying on the couch along with Hazel. "Even if they did forget, what's the big deal? It's kind of a silly holiday."

Piper's jaw fell. "You're kidding right?"

Annabeth smiled at her best friend. "The only reason you're making a big deal over it is because it's the first Valentine's Day since Jason's asked you out. Before you met him you would always say-"

"I know." Piper sighed. "But come on. Aren't you guys even a little concerned? I mean how can a group of five boys all be dense enough to forget Valentine's Day? We should be over there stabbing them with our high heels."

Reyna laughed and did look up at that. "Good look finding any. I think you and I are the only girls in this house who own any."

"Come on," Piper looked around at her college housemates. "Annabeth? I know Percy would be too scared of making you mad to forget this holiday. Aren't you the least bit interested?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Not really. I mean, we've had five Valentine's Days together. And I'm sure when we go out tomorrow- we do have a date planned- he'll make it up to me."

Hazel, who was the most reserved of the girls, choked. "Woah, Annabeth, too much information."

Reyna ignored them and looked at Piper. "Why don't you call Jason if you're so upset over it?"

"I'm not." Piper said defensively, before backing down at their raised eyebrows. "I mean- well it is our first Valentine's Day since we started dating. He should have remembered, right?"

"If he's anything like Percy- and they are cousins, remember- there's not high chances." Annabeth said.

"What are you talking about?" Katie said. "Percy's great. I mean, anyone with eyes can see he's hopelessly in love with you. Try dating Travis. Romance for him is ordering take-out."

"Travis would sell his soul for you," Hazel said. "Frank's always so nervous- sometimes I never know what to do around him in case I freak him out."

"But you and Frank are the cutest couple anybody has ever seen." Piper said. "Plus he's not as private as Jason. I love him, don't get me wrong, but sometimes a girl needs passion."

"Jason's pretty much the perfect boyfriend, Piper." Reyna said.

Piper looked at her. "You're one to talk. You have Leo. Everyone knows that boy is as in love with you as he was the day he first saw you. Gods know he never shuts up about you."

Reyna smiled but said nothing, causing the others- except for Annabeth who was reading- to cry out in exclamations.

"See! You can't even think of anything you'd want to change."

"Maybe we're still in that honeymoon phase?" Reyna said.

"No, you guys have been dating too long." Piper said before sighing. "Face it, you two are soulmates."

A knock sounded. Piper jumped to open the door and Leo met them.

"Hey." He greeted before looking at Reyna. "Ready to go?"

"Now?" She asked in surprise. "I'm a mess. Sweats, baggy sweater, hair in a bun and all."

"You're beautiful." Leo rolled his eyes. "Now come on. I have something planned. You didn't think I would forget Valentine's Day, did you?"

Piper sank back down on the couch with a deep sigh. "Go." She told Reyna. "Go out with your amazing boyfriend knowing I hate you."

"The guys are on their way," he said to the rest of the girls before practically dragging Reyna out of the apartment.


	43. Special

**43\. Special**

Reyna woke up to sunshine practically blinding her.

She arched her back with a satisfied groan as she stretched her arms out and felt her muscles pop satisfactorily.

When her eyes finally fluttered open it was to see Leo, propped up on an elbow, staring down at her with something akin to adoration in his eyes.

And Reyna felt flutters in her stomach.

Because even after all this time, a single glance from her now husband could make her feel radiant and beautiful. One compliment from him was enough to put her in a good mood for the whole day. Leo made her feel loved, and special. Leo made her happy.

He was like ice cream on a hot day. Or hot chocolate on a cold one. Amazingly sweet and desperately needed. At least by her.

Reyna could not go without her hot chocolate or her ice cream. Anybody who knew her knew that. And jellybeans. Jellybeans was another thing she loved.

Leo to Reyna, was like jellybeans. Something she loved and needed constantly.

"Good morning," he said to her, eyes still roving over her like he could stare at her for the rest of his life and it still wouldn't be long enough.

"Morning," she said happily, for once completely relaxed. A monster could jump through their bedroom window and Reyna would calmly grab her knife from her nightstand and throw it without looking away from her husband. "It's strange sleeping in our bed again," she mused, half to herself. "Instead of the big comfy beds from our honeymoon."

"Complaining already?" He teased her. "I thought the women waited a bit for that."

"Well I already have you by law now," Reyna pointed out, rolling over to face him directly. "Why not just start now and get it over with? Get ready for nagging and PMS, Mr. Valdez."

"So pretty much what I've been living with for the past two years since we moved in together," Leo replied, causing Reyna to smack him. "Kidding!" He said.

Reyna pouted. "Is that anyway to treat your new wife? You should be nice to me," she said seriously. "I might leave you."

"That's okay," Leo replied, sliding out of bed to put on some underwear and pants. "I'll just marry one of my other fiancée's. Poor girls have been waiting long enough."

Reyna flopped back on the bed to hide her grin. "Do we have to work today?" She asked. "What if we called in sick? I don't think our honeymoon is over yet."

Leo swallowed audibly and gazed at her, eyes darkening slightly. "As great as that sounds," he said after a moment, "we do need to pay rent. And electricity bills. Heating. Plus there's the water bill-"

"Okay, okay." Reyna grumbled. "Well I don't have to be in the office for almost two hours," she said, getting out of bed and snatching one of Leo's bigger t-shirts to put on. "Let's go make breakfast."

oooOOOooo

"You know," Leo said, watching her move around the kitchen, frying bacon and scrambling eggs in nothing but his shirt, "I could seriously get used to this."

"Leo, I've been doing this for two years," she pointed out. "The only difference is now is that we're married."

"Exactly." He replied, surprising her by coming up right behind her and wrapping his arms around her. "Now you're mine," he said. "And you have a ring to prove it."

Reyna turned around and looped her arms around his neck. "I was always yours."

She kissed him, not caring if the bacon burnt.


	44. Building

**44\. Building**

It was good to know, Reyna supposed, that if their four-year-old son Michael ever decided to not go to college or university and failed to get a job, he would always have this to go back to. It seems Leo's skills with mechanics, tinkering and building were hereditary.

"Leo," she called, standing in the doorway of their son's room. "Come here for a second."

Michael continued to build, connecting pieces of Lego and mumbling nonsensical words to himself as he did.

Leo appeared two seconds later. "Yeah?"

"Look at this," Reyna stepped aside to let Leo stand in the doorway to stare, mouth agape, at their son.

More than a minute later Leo turned to look at her. "What the…?"

Their son was surrounded by a very exact replica of Hogwarts, the castle from Harry Potter. It reached up to Reyna's waist, and was still growing. Apparently their son was going as high as he could reach.

"I thought you watched the movie with him _one time_?" Reyna asked.

"I did!" Leo defended before looking back at their son, a huge smile breaking out over his face. "I guess he just remembered."

Reyna shook her head and looked at the multi-coloured castle. "I just… this is amazing."

Leo nodded. "Is our son a genius?"

"Must be," Reyna replied. "Gods know where he gets it from."

"Hey!"

They were silent for a few more seconds before Reyna smiled. "We made that," she said to him softly, linking their fingers as she rubbed her hand over her slightly protruding baby bump.

Leo placed his other hand on top of hers. "This one better become a billionaire or something," he said. "To live up to this little guy."

"Leo!"

"Kidding." He said, before looking back at their son who was still happily building. "How did he even get that much Legos?"

Reyna shrugged. "Well it _was_ all he asked for at Christmas. And his birthday. Plus he doesn't lose everything like a certain someone I could mention."

"If you're talking about Frank, I completely agree," Leo said before wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Seriously though," he whispered in her ear. "How tempted are you to just run through it and knock it down?"

"Very," Reyna admitted with a smile. "But first let me get my camera. I want a picture of him with it like this. Then of you two breaking it. Then of him throwing Legos at you because it's all your fault while he simultaneously throws a tantrum."

"Okay- hey, what?"

Reyna kissed him quickly. "Better get your will ready," she advised as she went searching for their camera. "Because if you really do knock it down I can count on you not living to tomorrow."


	45. Clumsy

**I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!**

**45\. Clumsy**

"You don't understand."

"Explain then."

Leo's words hit her like a blow and Reyna flinches away from his intense gaze. She wants to explain, she wants him to understand, but she can't find the words. He should be screaming at her, throwing things against the walls of her Praetor House or storming out. Instead he's sitting on her bed, hands clasped in front of him, watching her as she bites her lip and avoids his gaze.

He is waiting for her explanation because he trusts her. He believes in her.

Reyna hates herself.

"You don't understand." She repeats again, and this time Leo's eyes flare for a second.

"Then tell me, Reyna." He says.

"I'm in love with you," she says. "Not Percy, not Jason. That's all anybody needs to know."

He shakes his head. "Hera said-"

"Juno," Reyna grits out, "seems to like causing trouble. Venus too."

Leo's quiet for a second, probably trying to remember which gods she was talking about, but when he does speak again, he's tense. "Well they seem to feel very sorry for you. Poor Reyna, who didn't get the famous Percy Jackson or Jason Grace. Poor Reyna," Leo says, quieter now, "Who ended up with _Leo Valdez, _of all people."

"You- I didn't want _anybody_." Reyna says stupidly and she cringes. Her words are choppy and clumsy, not making sense, not saying what she's trying to say. "No- wait." She grabs his arm as he stands up. "Listen." She says. "I didn't want anyone," she repeats. "Not really. Maybe for- for my image, or to gain respect from the other demigods, but I never wanted them for _me_. I never did, until you. And I don't just want you… I need you." She's frustrated, words are not her choice of weapon. She was never a match for anybody with them- Reyna prefers cunning and strategy. Words can be slippery and are more often a double-edged sword than a balm. "Leo, you're perfect for me. You. Not Percy or- or Jason," she shakes her head at the thought. "They're not who I need- or who I want. Not now that I've had you and know you and-"

"Rey."

His nickname stops her confused rambling and she hopes the softening of his tone means he isn't trying to leave anymore. He's so sweet and kind to her, so concerned about everybody excepts himself…. She wishes she could make him see how much he matters. To everybody, not just her.

"Leo, you are _important_." She stresses, not knowing how else to say it. "People love you and need you. Especially me. Please don't- never doubt that. Please."

His eyes search hers and he relaxes before nodding and kissing her, claiming her lips as his own.

He doesn't say yes. There are no promises or oaths. But Reyna never really expected any. Leo is just as insecure as she is sometimes, and even if he isn't promising her anything, she knows that they're okay and he believes her.

And that is all that matters in the end.


	46. Sanctuary

**I would love it if you guys could check out my new fic called A Twist in the Story! Thanks for reading this, I hope you continue!**

**46\. Sanctuary**

sanc·tu·ar·y

ˈsaNGk(t)SHəˌwerē/

noun

1.a place of refuge or safety.

oooOOOooo

Reyna felt safest whenever Leo was around. It had been that way for a while now.

Maybe it was because she felt like he didn't constantly watch her, waiting for her to mess up so that he could pounce on her faults. Or the way he smiled when she actually laughed at one of his jokes. It could have been because when his lips moved slowly and surely against hers everything else melted away.

It might have been because the one time Hylla had taken Reyna aside in the hallway to try to get her to stop hanging out with Leo, he hadn't backed off like Jason had before him. He had stood quietly and listened to her sister and then, when Hylla had left, he had taken her hand and kissed her knuckles quickly in the deserted hallway.

"We won't let your dad find out then." Was his simple answer.

She trusted him.

That was big for her. Reyna didn't trust. She usually took years to open up to people and they had to prove they were going to pull through in tough situations or there was no chance.

Somehow Leo broke down her defenses with one corny joke and lop-sided smile.

When Reyna's father came home late some nights it was the worst. He might be drunk. Or angry and sullen. He might blame his daughters for his wife leaving without a trace or he might blame himself, mumbling too low for either Reyna or Hylla to hear.

Hylla had started to leave whenever that happened.

Reyna had started to call Leo.

He lived at a foster home but she didn't call often, and if he told his foster family it was for a school project they let him talk as long as he needed. As long as _she_ needed.

Some nights that was a long time.

Leo was her safe place, her refuge, her sanctuary. He was the one part of her life that was untainted by her family and their problems. He was a haven, a private oasis for her and her alone.

He had started as a way to get back at her father and his rules. It had been the day after a particularly bad night at home and she had decided to lose her virginity in the girls bathroom at school to a stranger who was her classmate. Leo Valdez, the mysterious rebel who joked around and broke the rules and had no parents.

He was known for being a ladies man, even though Reyna had never actually seen him with a girl.

He had been gentle the first time when he'd learned Reyna was a virgin, and he hadn't questioned her motives because he knew when something was personal.

She had gone back because he had been so caring the first time.

He had come back because she was unlike any girl he'd known before.

Somewhere along the line it stopped being just sex.

Now he was where she went when she needed to get away. He was who she called when she needed someone- she had learned to trust him because he had always picked up.

Leo was kind and nothing like she had thought he would be.

Leo was safe.


	47. Father

**Surprise! I actually haven't dropped off of the face of the Earth and abandoned this story. Surprising? **

**I am so sorry for not updating but I haven't been feeling creative. All I have for you is excuses and I'm sorry, but I will be getting back into the flow of this story. I'm having Leyna feels for no reason at all, so might as well make use of them. **

**Enjoy! Love you all, thanks for sticking with this story guys!**

**47\. Father**

"Well, I guess compared to some of the other gods Hephaestus isn't that bad." Leo said, playing with Reyna's fingers, his head laying on her stomach as they relaxed in the Field of Mars. "I mean I understand that he's there for me and my siblings as much as he can be, you know? But he's not exactly social and it's almost easier if we keep a bit of distance between us."

Reyna turned her head to the side, away from him when he turned his eyes to look at her. She took a deep breath and the smell of grass and loosely turned dirt filled her senses. "Do you ever want him to be different?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you ever wish… that you were closer to him, I guess. That he acted like a normal dad?"

Leo's eyes seemed to be boring a hole in the side of her head, she felt his gaze so heavily. Slowly she turned to meet his eyes and felt her breath escape her quickly. His eyes were so open and trusting, so filled with _love_…

It still shocked her. She had only been dating Leo for a month, the war with the giants and Gaea had been over for two, but she was still learning to open up and actually be honest with him. She did trust Leo, that wasn't the issue.

She was more scared that once he knew everything about her- about her sister, her feelings for Percy and Jason, and about her father- he would run screaming and never come near her again.

She wasn't sure she'd be able to handle that.

"Sometimes." Leo answered eventually. "But I guess- well, everything that I wish my dad would do for me helps me realize what I'll want to be like when I become a father."

Reyna's eyes shot up to his. "You think about that? Being a parent?"

"Sometimes," he said slowly, not exactly meeting her eyes. "Don't worry, it'll be far in the future when it happens, hopefully. But… yeah. With the gods as an example of a lot of the things to _not_ do… I think of how I want to be there for my kids in the future."

Reyna smiled, picturing Leo with a little curly haired boy hoisted on his hip. Maybe- maybe even a boy with her eyes.

"I think you'd be a great father." She said honestly. "Any kid would love you."

He laughed, a bit uncomfortably. "Yeah, well… I guess I won't know for a while. I just- I want to be better. Not perfect, but better. Than the parents all of us here have. I actually want to be a part of my child's life, and try to understand anything they're going through. I want them to know that I love them, no matter what, and that I will always be there, even if they don't always want me to be."

Reyna took a deep breath. "Yeah." She said quietly. "Yeah."

She had taken him here to tell him about her father and what had happened with him. But she decided not now. She would tell him, she promised herself, but not now. Now she would be happy imagining Leo as a father and not ruin this beautiful afternoon.

Her father had nothing to do with her future anyway. And Reyna was starting to suspect that Leo had everything to do with it.

For now, she would leave it that way.


	48. Wand

**48\. Wand**

"There is no way," Reyna began, "that I am spending $40 on a Harry Potter wand."

"Okay, one," Leo said, still turning the stick of wood over in his hands and staring down at it. "This isn't Harry's wand, it's Dumbledore's. Two, it's my money so you can't stop me, and three." He handed the wand to their nine year old son, Miko, who examined it with reverence. "This is our first time," he gestured between himself and his son, "visiting the Harry Potter world. You're the one who suggested this vacation to Florida, you can't just let us go and not expect us to _buy_ anything."

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "He might grow out of this," she pointed out. "And never look at it again after today. We've already bought a Gryffindor robe for him and a Hufflepuff robe for you- whatever _those_ names mean. We've bought hats. Scarves. Even a huge box of jellybeans that apparently I can't eat in case it tastes like boogers or earwax." Reyna stared her husband down. "And now you want to buy wands too?"

"Without a wand a wizard has no tool to direct his magic through!" Leo protested. "How are we supposed to send our son out into the world on Halloween in a Harry Potter outfit without a wand? That would just be tragic!"

Reyna looked up to the sky as if seeking help from above. "We bought the series for him to read," she muttered to herself. "And you end up reading all seven books to him a little bit every night before bed. Somehow you love them just as much as he does. How did that even happen?"

"You're just jealous because you started listening in at the sixth book and didn't understand anything and felt excluded." Leo said.

"And you somehow convinced Percy to pick up a book, despite the fact that he usually doesn't touch them with a ten foot pole, and got him obsessed with the series too!" Reyna continued.

"As you know, Annabeth thanked me for that-"

"And he pleaded for weeks to come with us on this trip just so he could come here, to Hogwarts-"

"With good reason!"

"Making Annabeth and I have to be dragged around with you boys while you all ran through this castle like children in Candyland."

"Come on, Rey." Leo looked up with a smile, completely unfazed by her empty ranting. "You're having fun. Admit it. You liked the saleswoman telling you that you belonged to Ravenclaw. It made you feel superior."

"I don't even know what Ravenclaw means!" Reyna said. "Although Annabeth did seem to like being called a Ravenclaw as well, so it can't be that bad."

"Daddy?" Miko tugged on Leo's wizard robe- which, yes, he was wearing around the fake Hogwarts castle. "Can we get this one?" He held up the wand in his hands with wide eyes, looking so hopeful that Reyna's heart softened.

Maybe it wasn't a passing faze.

"Ask your mother." Leo said, glancing at her.

Oh, gods above.

"Of course, Miko." Reyna said. "Let's go buy it right now."

They had just started to move to the till when Percy appeared out of the crowd, dragging an amused Annabeth behind him. "Have you guys found the Firewhiskey yet?" He said excitedly. "It tastes delicious."

Reyna and Annabeth shared a look as Leo grabbed a bottle from Percy.

It was going to be a long ride home.


	49. Toads

**I never realized how much I missed this couple until I started writing about them again. :( Sorry for the horrible wait, I have no excuses. **

**Enjoy! This one was interesting to write.**

**oooOOOooo**

**49\. Toad**

You have to kiss a few toads to find your prince.

She's heard the saying a million times in her life. In fairytales and from old ladies in New Rome, from her friends who say, in more modern day language, that the first few boyfriends they had were immature and silly, nothing more than a crush, but the ones they have now are amazing and sweet and the real thing.

Reyna's never believed it, mainly because she's never dated before. She's had crushes (_cough, Jason, cough_) but never anything real and true, never something that moves forward instead of stands still.

Now it's almost a year after the war with Gaea and the demigods have moved on and Reyna finds herself falling hopelessly, desperately in love with Leo Valdez.

After the whole ordeal with Calypso- she won't get too far into it, but it turns out the Titan is immortal and will live forever and Leo is not and will die. Kind of puts a damper on the whole 'growing old together thing'- Leo was alone, Reyna was alone, and what do you know, it turns out they were actually great at being alone together.

He's her first boyfriend though, and she's inexperienced and unsure about so many things. She could not be able to tell you the amount of Iris messages she's had with Piper, Nico and Hazel begging for relationship advice- a position she would never have thought to find herself in. Ever.

So she's heard her friends say the phrase, 'You have to kiss a few toads to find your prince,' and it scares her because she knows most people don't find their soulmate- or life partner or whatever you want to call it- in their first boyfriend or girlfriend. (Percy and Annabeth seem to be one of the lucky exceptions of that rule, because everybody knows those two are meant to be.)

Reyna, if you didn't know, was great at over worrying.

So she's freaking out and thinking about this, about how the odds are stacked against them, and she's staring out of the window of her Praetor house when Leo comes in and finds her like this.

Immediately he sits across from her on the window seat. "What's wrong?"

She shakes her head. "I'm just thinking."

He studies her before frowning. "About what? It's upsetting you."

She's changed since the beginning of their relationship, and it's obvious when she answers honestly right away instead of hesitating. She can barely meet his eyes. "Do you ever think it might not work with us? We're only sixteen, Leo. It's hard to be in love in our age."

Then he's looking worried and grabbing her hands as if to reassure himself that she's right in front of him and not going anywhere, and his grip is tight and-

"What are you trying to say, Rey?"

She shrugs again and looks down at their hands. His thumb is slowly rubbing back and forth across the back of hers. "We're so young. We have so much that could happen to us. I don't want- I don't want any of that to come between us or what we have."

The worry leaves his eyes when she looks back up at him. "Okay," he says, before taking a breath. "Do you love me?"

"What-?"

"Do you love me?"

"Of course."

He smiles. "I love you too. You're more important than anything. As long as we both feel that way, nothing will ruin this."

Later, Reyna thinks that maybe, just maybe, she didn't have to go through any toads to find her prince.


	50. Tradition

**So these three chapters that I'm posting today are all one story line and continue where the one before left off. Enjoy! **

**50\. Tradition**

Tradition in the demigod world states that all members of the Seven and their boyfriends and girlfriends, attend Thanksgiving at the Jackson apartment. Every year.

And tradition states that everything any member of this group eats must be blue.

The first time they do it is after the war and Leo and Reyna arrive with Jason and Piper. She's not sure what to expect because this is kind of an odd predicament if she thinks about it. She's with her boyfriend out in the modern world- armed with only one knife strapped to her belt, another hidden in her boot, a spray can of celestial bronze dust (Leo's invention), a watch made by Tyson the cyclops that transforms into a spear and absolutely no armor.

She's terrified and feels amazingly vulnerable.

But she's also excited and she chooses to ignore the oddness of today. (She's going with her fairly new boyfriend to hang out with his friends- all of them- for the first time in a non-leader, co-leader, warrior or demigod sort of way- at her old crush's apartment- a guy who had also tried to kill her when she was eleven- joined by another one of her old crush's and his girlfriend, who also happened to be her current boyfriend's best friend. Add to that the fact that Leo used to like Hazel and Hazel used to date Leo's great- grandfather or something then…. really, the only ones without awkwardness shadowing their relationship with others are Frank and Annabeth.)

Two out of eight. Not bad. Reyna knows that if their pictures were on a bulletin board different coloured strings would be linking them all together to show their complicated backgrounds.

"Nervous?" Piper hangs back to walk with Reyna while the guys chat ahead of them.

She glances at her warily. "Am I that obvious?"

Piper smiles and reaches out to squeeze her hand. It's taken a couple of weeks but finally, Reyna doesn't flinch away or wince at the contact. "Don't be," the daughter of Aphrodite says as they stop outside Percy's door. "We're with family."

Reyna's surprised when that sentence makes her feel like crying.

(She doesn't, of course. Not here, not now, not in front of everybody. But she's close, and Leo looks back and catches the expression on her face and raises an eyebrow at her in concern. Jason looks back too, and Leo's not the only one who knows her well, so now she has two boys looking at her like they're afraid because not just anything makes Reyna cry and something must be up.)

She smiles at them and shakes her head right before Annabeth opens the door, a strip of blue cookie dough resting at the base of her hairline and a huge smile on her face.

"Hey guys!" She greets, stepping aside. "Come on in. I'd take your coats but… my hands are full."

She's holding a white plastic mixing bowl that holds what looks like a mountain of dough and stirring it easily and Reyna blinks in surprise at how comfortable she is here in Percy's home. She fits in perfectly.

She shouldn't be surprised, she knows.

They hang up their coats and Hazel and Frank are already here setting the table- but Percy and his mom are strangely absent.

Until they walk out of what must be Percy's room and Reyna can see the resemblance right away. Percy looks more like his dad, but he is his mother's son.

"Hey guys!" Percy's face brightens instantly at the sight of them. "Glad you could make it!"


	51. Storm

**They're also more focused on the Seven's friendship than Leyna. Sorry about that. **

**51\. Storm**

Leo grimaces beside her. "Yeah. And how much demigod aura do you think we're sending out right now? A monster could come and attack us at any second."

At almost that exact moment a clap of thunder sounded outside. Reyna squeezes Leo's hand.

"Don't mind him," she says calmly, much calmer than she feels. "He's just mad because he had to wake up before 11:00 this morning to get here on time."

Percy grins and gestures to Sally. "This is my mom."

"Call me Sally." She smiles at them all perfectly comfortable. "My husband Paul will be here shortly, he just had to run out and get some vegetables."

Piper frowns. "In this storm? Are you sure he'll be okay? It looks like it could get pretty bad outside."

Sally purses her lips but nods. "He'll be okay, the store is just around the corner."

"Thank you for having us, Sally," Jason says sincerely. "Your home is beautiful."

And that's how it starts.

The first year they go it's slightly uncomfortable and awkward, not to mention at every clap of thunder or flash of lightning they all jump and put their hands on their weapons, ready for a monster to show up at any moment. But that doesn't happen. In fact, they all make it home safe and sound and perfectly happy after eventually loosening up.

Time goes on, they stay in touch and slowly drift in different directions with their lives.

Now they're all 25/26 years old and they show up at the Jackson's apartment for Thanksgiving. And like that first time almost 10 years ago, it's storming outside.

No longer Sally and Paul's apartment, here they are at Annabeth and Percy's and Reyna immediately hangs up her coat and goes to help Annabeth in the kitchen while the boys watch football or something.

They hug quickly and immediately get to work. They've done this before- many times, not just on Thanksgiving, and Reyna knows that she's in charge of vegetables and salad. (Not that anybody except Frank, Jason, Annabeth and Piper have any. Reyna and Hazel wrinkle their noses at the rabbit food and Percy and Leo pretend it isn't even there when there's things like turkey to be eaten.

These days they drink beer and wine instead of soda and eat much more neatly. (Well… some of them drink alcohol.)

Reyna glances at Annabeth's round belly. "How many more weeks is it now? Until she's born?"

"Just 3," Annabeth looks at her and catches her eye before smiling. "It's gone by fast, to be honest."

Reyna nods. "Are you nervous?"

She shouldn't be, Reyna thinks. Everybody knows without needing it to be said out loud that Annabeth and Percy will be amazing parents, just like they've been amazing husband and wife. Once again they're leading the way for the rest of them, starting new journey's in their lives while the rest look on and think that maybe they'll follow.

Reyna looks at her new wedding band. It's simple but elegant, made by Leo's own hands, and Reyna loves it.

"Not nervous," Annabeth answers after a bit. "Just… anticipating, I suppose."

Reyna smiles. "You two will be great parents."

"I think so. At least I hope we will be." She glances quickly to the living room before meeting Reyna's eyes again. "Percy's nervous. He thinks- he worries he won't be a good father."

Reyna shakes her head at Percy's needless worrying. "He's never been the smartest guy."

Annabeth smiles. "I told him he'll be great," she places a hand on her stomach without even realizing she's doing it.


	52. Test

**Expect better updating soon. Sorry everybody, I've kind of stopped writing. But don't worry, school's almost over and that means time and inspiration. **

**52\. Test**

Reyna raises an eyebrow. "He didn't believe you, did he?"

Annabeth shakes her head and purses her lips in exactly the same way Sally Jackson does when she's more worried about something than she'll let on. "He thinks because of Tartarus- because of everything… he thinks it will somehow affect her. He worries."

"Hey," Reyna puts a hand on Annabeth's wrist lightly. "Even if her life is like ours was, she's yours and Percy's daughter." She smiles and raises an eyebrow, daring Annabeth to contradict her. "Anything with both of your DNA will be fearsome to behold. She'll be revered at the camps and no monster will dare to mess with her because the Jackson family will come after them."

Annabeth smiles but this time it's genuine and happy. "Thanks Reyna."

She pulls away slightly, uncomfortable with the sudden emotion in the room, but turns back to chopping vegetables. "No problem," she says lightly.

They work in quiet for a while, the soft sounds of music coming from the radio, until suddenly someone else enters the room. "Hey guys!"

It's two someone else's in fact, and Piper and Hazel both take turns hugging them before going about and helping out.

The four of them have a system, one they'd worked out quickly. The boys and girls alternated making the food. This time it was the women's turn -funny how it was usually them who cooked the larger meals. Piper did drinks and setting the table because no one trusted that girl to cook. Reyna did vegies and salads. Annabeth did the main courses. Hazel made the desserts.

The boys on the other hand….

From what Reyna had gathered from the times they cooked, each of the boys just bought different types of takeout and set it on the table, along with cases of beer and anything else they might want.

Reyna knew from a fact that each of the guys had made their wives home cooked meals. Yet none was willing to do it around the others.

Weird how that worked.

"So," Hazel said casually as she took out her pan of famous Oreo Fudge Brownie Bars. "How're you all doing?"

A chorus of fine's went around the room.

"And the guys?" Hazel asked.

"Good, fine, great." Were the answers.

Reyna asked. "What about you and Frank?"

"Oh, you know." Hazel shrugged. "Pretty good, considering we got engaged last night."

Piper dropped the forks and Annabeth straightened up from looking into the oven much too fast for a pregnant woman.

Reyna's breath caught. "Really?"

Hazel smiled and held up her left hand, where a diamond ring glinted softly. "Really, really."

And then suddenly Annabeth was squeezing the life out of Hazel and Piper was dancing around the kitchen and Reyna couldn't stop smiling and gods be damned, she was not crying!

Then the four of them were hugging, forgetting the food. Piper pulled away first.

"What do we think, girls?" She looked at Reyna and Annabeth. "Does he pass the test? Do we deem him worthy?"

Reyna looked at Hazel, who looked happier than she had ever seen before, and nodded.

Annabeth blinked rapidly, trying to get the tears out of her eyes. ("_I'm pregnant, okay?")_ "Yes," she says.

And then they're hugging again and mostly laughing but partly crying because they're all so happy and have been waiting on this for a while and Reyna, the least emotional of the four (yes, even worse than Annabeth) pulls them tighter.

"I'm so glad we're family." Is what she says.


	53. Lock

**53\. Lock**

"So," Leo's voice comes from the chair in the corner of the dim room, low and slightly shaking, and it makes Reyna's heart squeeze tightly in her chest, so tight that tears come to her eyes, because he sounds so incredibly resigned. "You're leaving."

"Leo."

She doesn't know what else to say, no other words even enter her mind because the only thing she can think is him, him, him.

The door to her room closing behind his entrance woke her up, and she probably looks like a mess because her hair is a rat's nest from nightmares. He's angry because he just heard of her plan to go to Camp Jupiter tomorrow, and she's on the verge of breaking because she loves him and it's unraveling her.

She gets the nightmares from sleeping in this room of the Big House. From being on enemy territory.

So now they're talking and watching with only the light of the moon from the small window in this room to show each other the absolutely desperate looks they're reflecting back at one another.

"If you wanted to leave so bad," she sees him clench his fists and then release them in a second. "All you had to do was say so. You didn't have to stay here for _months_, letting me think we were _happy_-"

"I was happy." She interrupts him sharply. "I- you make me happy. Being with you."

"But you're leaving."

"This isn't my home. No matter how much we both want it to be, I can't stay here." Her tone is pleading, she's begging him to understand. To forgive her. "I'm still sleeping in a guest room in the Big House, for Jupiter's sake, Leo. I don't fit in, I'm not comfortable, the others don't get along with me-"

"_Reyna_."

Now his voice is cutting. Cutting through her empty excuses which are half lies and half exaggerations which they both know.

"Camp Jupiter is my home. It's where I'm needed and wanted."

There's a sharp intake of breath from where he's sitting. "I thought that _I_ was your home."

She flinches.

"We're too different, Leo." She says after minutes of silence, broken only by the wind outside and the sounds of leaves blowing on trees. "I'm Roman, you're Greek. We can't work, it's against our nature."

"You know that's not true." He says. "Reyna, you've seen Frank and Hazel."

She raises an eyebrow that she doubts he'll see. "One couple out of hundreds? That's nothing. Less than a percent."

"Jason and Piper."

"Name one other couple. One other Roman and Greek couple that are meant to be together."

He's silent for too long.

She closes her eyes in resignation.

He breaks the silence. "Us."

She shakes her end. "Tonight is the end of us."

He stands up so abruptly she starts and reaches for her knife, never quite comfortable with this camp's lack of security towards monsters.

But the only monster in this room, she surmises as she breaks both of their hearts, is her.

"Fine. Your mind is made up and I can't change it. I see that now." He walks towards the door and opens it, pausing long enough to say his last words to her before she leaves. "I hope you have a safe trip home and meet a Roman boy who you find in your nature to be with."

The door slams behind him.

He doesn't come and say goodbye to her the next day.

She plans to lock away the memories and throw away the key, never to be opened again.

(It doesn't work.)


	54. Closet

**54\. Closet**

"Ready or not," Reyna calls out to the empty living room. "Here I come!"

She wouldn't have imagined this sort of life for her ten years ago. A life of staying home, cooking meals, cleaning the house, the every other day sword practice or the 2 kids and just as childish husband. Her days as a lawyer are over, she's done, and Leo's only doing half days at the garage now because not only was Reyna a lawyer, she was a badass lawyer who pretty much set them up for life in under fifteen years of working.

And she's only thirty-four.

So now she plays hide and go seek with her daughter Elizabeth and son Jacob and she's happy and carefree living in New York. She worries about monsters constantly, comes home from grocery shopping to find Percy and Annabeth lounging in her living room- gods know how, those two are the only ones who manage to break into the Valdez's near impregnable apartment- and meets up with Hazel and Piper weekly for lunches, spa days, a movie or even a sleepover, kicking the husbands out of the house to go fall asleep in a bar or something while the babysitter gets paid more than Reyna used to make in a month when she was a teenager paying for things like school and house bills.

But she can't complain because it's a better deal than she'd ever thought she'd get, and she has a husband whom she loves very, very much.

And who, he assures her every night when she's straddling him or when he's making her writhe on their bed, loves her very, very much in return.

So her life, as it turns out, did not turn out lonely, sad and unsatisfying. In all of the ways that matter, and none that she thought she'd ever achieve, she's won in this game of chance. She has two beautiful daughters, a sister who occasionally sends a letter and postcard, a group of friends who are as mismatched as they come, and a husband.

She's rounding the corner to the kids bedroom when a pair of arms wrap around her from behind and suddenly there are four bodies in a tangle of limbs on the hallway floor, three of them struggling to pin down the other.

Reyna finally gives up when Jacob sits on her tummy, Elizabeth flops on one leg and Leo covers her eyes.

"This is cheating." She announces.

"Us? Cheat? No." Leo says. "This is strategic counter maneuvers which will help us win this game."

Did she mention her husband was more childish than their kids?

"Mommy didn't find us!" Jacob said before she could reply. "We were in the closet!"

"And you managed to get your father out?" She fakes shock. "I'm impressed, he's been in there for a long time!"

The kids don't understand her joke, but Leo takes his hand from her eyes and frowns at her. "Now you know better than anybody that that is a lie."

She shrugs as best she can with her shoulders pinned by her husband. "A man can always change his mind."

His lips twitch upwards just a second before he kisses her.

Their kids roll away in disgust, exclamations coming from them both.

"Gross!"

"Mommy, Daddy, stop, that's yucky!"

When Leo pulls away she's breathless and flushed, panting slightly and unfocused.

"Proof enough?" He asks her with a goofy grin.

She pushes herself up on wobbly arms. "You are definitely the best gay man I've ever kissed."

She giggles when he kisses her again to shut her up.


	55. Smile

**55\. Smile**

It's seven months until he sees her again, but that doesn't stop it from feeling like a punch to the gut at the sight of her.

The last time they'd spoke he'd crept into her room in the Big House at CHB at night and tried to see if he could convince her to stay.

He couldn't.

The last time he'd seen her he'd been hiding like a coward behind the Demeter cabin as she'd walked by and away, back to California, back to Camp Jupiter, and away from him. She hadn't seen him and he'd turned away before she'd even fully made it past his hiding place.

And now the Seven had been called to Camp Jupiter- by Reyna and the other Roman campers request- to celebrate the anniversary of Gaea's downfall.

Leo tries to tell the others that he's sick, that he's busy in the forges, that his cabin can't survive without him and that he'd miss Chiron too much if he went with them for the week long stay, but they didn't buy it.

In the end Annabeth has a private talk with him in his room on the Argo II and there's no further discussion of the subject of Leo staying.

Piper stands next to him as they're greeted at the base of a rope ladder coming from the Argo II and holds his hand in silent support.

He doesn't miss her squeeze when Reyna finally appears.

Quiet takes over the crowd of demigods and he pulls his hand away from Piper's immediately, not wanting to show her- to give any sign- that he's not absolutely, perfectly, 100 percent fine.

He feels too many stares to count on his face, sees that many of the demigods are eyeing Reyna warily before their gaze flickers to him, and he wonders what rumors have circulated about the end of their relationship.

He's two seconds too late in telling himself that he doesn't care.

He stares at her longer than he should, and he knows she knows he is because she told him once that she can feel his eyes on her the minute they're on her, but she ignores him with much more strength than he has at the moment.

Percy nudges him so covertly that Leo almost misses it himself, and he catches a glimpse of the son of Poseidon shaking his head.

Right. Reality must be acknowledged once more. He's grateful Percy stepped in before he could make a fool of himself by doing something like trying to talk to her. Or apologize. Or confess that he's been eaten up inside because he misses her so goddamn much and it hurts and he never knew someone else could affect him so deeply and irreparably.

He's glad Percy stepped in before he did something irreversibly damaging like telling her he's still in love with her.

She greets the other six professionally, but with a warmth that shows lingering friendliness. He's last, and when she finally looks at him it's a knife twisting slowly in his gut because even if nobody else sees it, her eyes are haunted and sad and full of regret.

But she greets him with a smile, and with unknown strength he returns it.

She turns and walks away, leading them to a feast, and he wonders at how they'd gone from what they had been to people who couldn't even look at one another without it hurting.


	56. Quiet

**This is crack-like. **

**oooOOOooo**

**56\. Quiet**

"Reyna-"

"Leo, shut _up_!"

"No seriously, Rey-"

"Leo, I swear to gods if you get us caught in this game-"

"I have a bad feeling-"

"Go throw up in the bushes, I'm sure it will pass. Now be quiet, Leo, this is the best hiding spot in the whole camp and we don't want to be found. That's the whole point."

Leo stopped following her abruptly, causing her to turn to find him standing, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. "If it's the best spot in the entire camp, aren't other people going to want to hide there too?"

Reyna frowned. "I'm the only one-"

"Percy and Annabeth know this camp like they know each other's facial expressions." Leo interrupted. "There's not a chance we found this spot and they haven't."

"Well, maybe they're on offense. We're on defense. They're hunting everybody else, we're hiding out and only attacking when attacked. It's called strategy, Leo-"

"Oh, yeah, and who's the person in this camp best known for her strategic planning?" Leo mimed thinking.

"If you don't say me then you and your girlfriend will get crushed tomorrow in war games." Annabeth stepped out from a bush, taking off her invisibility cap.

"Seriously, Leo, I hope for your sake that you were gonna say her," Percy stepped out from the opposite side of the trail, disarming Reyna instantly. "You don't want to be on the receiving end of that threat. Been there, done that, believe me."

Reyna rolled her eyes heavenwards, exasperation lacing her voice. "I told you to be quiet."

"Okay, this was not my fault!" Leo exclaimed. "I told you these two would already be here-"

"And you're both right." Annabeth smiled. "Now if you'll kindly follow us, we're planning on winning this game of hide and seek. You two and Clarisse and Chris were the only ones we hadn't got yet. Guess now it's just Clarisse and Chris."

"Unless we beat you in the fight." Leo said. "Those were the rules."

"Leo, we already disarmed you both." Percy said.

Leo's hand lit up with fire. "Care to test that?"

Percy's mouth twitched in spite of himself, but he looked at Annabeth. "Your call, Wise Girl."

Annabeth tilted her head. "Leo-"

"If I disarm Percy Jackson will you forgive me for running my mouth and getting us caught?" Leo asked Reyna.

Reyna smiled. "If you disarm Percy I'll do a lot more than that."

"Ew," Percy said. "Guys, gross."

"Like you and Annabeth aren't the couple most known for PDA, Fish Boy." Leo said. "Seriously, who decides to get hot and steamy in the _training arena_-"

"Oh my gods- Leo, that was _one_ _time_!" Percy said. "And it wasn't even that bad-"

Reyna streaked forwards and grabbed her blade from Percy, also going for Riptide but missing just as he pulled it away and turned towards her.

"Seriously, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth pulled her cap down on her head, vanishing. "Do I have to do everything in this relationship?"

"They distracted me, I can't help if-"

"You get Leo, I'll go after Reyna?"

Annabeth's answer was Percy raising his sword in challenge towards Leo and Leo grinning and raising a flaming hand.

"Haven't you heard, Leo?" Percy grinned. "Water beats fire. Every time."

oooOOOooo

All Reyna could think after they'd run was _gods_, Annabeth was fast. And invisible.

Leo's standing over Percy with Riptide at Percy's throat and she disarms the blonde girl, they run as fast as they can.

And then they make out in the trees. Only to be found and disarmed by Clarisse and Chris later.


	57. Confrontation

**57\. Confrontation**

"Reyna."

He's not proud of having followed her into her praetor quarters but it seems there was nothing else to be done. She'd been avoiding him ever since the Seven has arrived and were greeted at Camp Jupiter and he's sick of it, sick of looking at her and catching her eye for a second before she looks away, sick of not talking or knowing what's making her laugh or shoving ice cream from that one ice cream store in New Rome she loves so much in her face and then kissing it off.

He's sick and tired of it.

She came back here months ago and he's missed her ever since, there's no denying it. He tried to act normal and okay but he's not and he's not sure what it is about this infuriating girl but she drives him _crazy_ without even needing to be near him.

Reyna whirls around, dagger out and pointing at him even though there's ten feet of space between them and when she sees him she doesn't relax, she tenses further even as she gets up from her slight crouch and lowers her blade. Slightly.

She doesn't play coy, or try to pretend things that happened didn't happen. Reyna's never been like that, she's always been straightforward, and after a life of being skirted around, lied to and generally treated like a child who doesn't know anything, Leo appreciates that.

"What are you doing in here, Leo?"

"We need to talk."

And even if it's been months since he's seen her, even though they're not dating anymore, he still knows her and he still sees her take a split second to regain her bearings and swallow down any words she doesn't want to say coming out of her mouth.

"No, we don't."

"Reyna-"

"I'm not doing this." She turns around, still tense, and puts both hands on the edge of her desk, gripping it tightly. "I want you to leave."

"No."

"No?"

"I'm staying."

"I'll leave."

"No you won't."

"How do you know-?"

"Because I know you."

His words pull her up short and it takes her another second before she speaks again. "I don't like confrontation, Leo, you know that. _Please_."

Her voice cracks a bit, and he winces at having brought her to this, to pleading, but he doesn't care. Because she's been looking at him and looking away too and he knows- he knows with everything that he is- that he's not the only one who's holding on to them.

He was the one who pushed her away, pushed her to move back to her old home. He needs to be the one to make the first move to fix it.

"You don't. Know me." Reyna takes a deep breath. "Not anymore."

"Yes, I do."

"I can't do this." She turns and meets his eyes, dead on, for the first time in months. "I can't be around you and I can't look at you and I can't talk to you. Leave, now. Please."

"Rey," he whispers, and she _flinches_. "I'll leave, but you need to know something."

Her eyes are guarded, her face wary. She doesn't trust him not to tear her down with a few words and he wonders how she ever thought they would be able to meet after she left and not destroy each other with their mere presence?

"What?" She asks finally.

He swallows. "I'm still in love with you."

Before she can tear him down and break him he turns and leaves, ignoring anybody he passes who calls his name in concern.


	58. Foreign

**58\. Foreign**

The first time she really notices the new kid is when he breaks out in a cursing tirade in the middle of calculus class.

It's swearing, she can tell by his tone and the impatience and frustration in his tone, and even though Reyna doesn't know one word of Spanish (which she's sure is what he's speaking) she would bet her life that that's the language Leo Valdez is cursing in.

Coach Hedge, the gym teacher who's filling in for Mr. Chiron, stands up to his full height of what must be about 5 foot 2 inches, and tries to look intimidating.

"Valdez," he says, trying to look menacingly at the teen who's just stood up and spoke a tirade of foreign words in exclamation towards the, admittedly difficult, test they'd just been handed ten minutes ago. "You better sit down and continue your test or else-"

Leo's hand twitches and Reyna 's gaze travels up his arm to his head, only to see him glance at her before smirking at the Coach. "I'm sorry," he bows his head and Reyna would bet money that the apologetic look on his face is false. "I'm not very good at math and this test is-"

"Expected to be completed and handed in by the end of the class." Hedge narrows his eyes. "Now sit down, cupcake, and if I hear even one more little peep out of you I'm sending you down to meet with Mr. D."

"Sir, yes sir!" Leo salutes the short man sarcastically but Hedge doesn't seem to notice the tone and preens to himself slightly.

Later, after class is done and Reyna's internally reassuring herself that no, she did not just fail that completely, she leaves the classroom with her binder and pencil case clutched against her chest, anxious to get home and placate her father who out ready to murder Hylla this morning for something she'd apparently done with a boy.

"Hey."

Before she knows what's happening Valdez is falling into step beside her as she heads towards their lockers and Reyna almost falters in her stride from surprise.

Nobody talks to her, not in years. Certainly not a boy. Ever since her father's hissed words in her ear (_"You can't trust anybody, I don't want strangers coming into my home, if you even look at a boy I'll beat you so hard none of them will ever want to look back.") _Reyna had made sure people knew that she preferred to be alone and that there was nothing they could do about it.

She'd assumed the new kid would pick up on it as well- that is, if he even noticed her. He'd seemed to have already found some friends in Jason and Piper.

So she gives him a look, then looks ahead once more. "What do you want?"

"I'm Leo Valdez." He says. "And you're Reyna. Right?"

"That must be right since it's on my birth certificate."

She didn't mean for it to be a joke but he gives a startled laugh. "Funny." He say. "Look, what are you doing later?"

"Nothing of interest." Reyna's sorry to be short because she thinks in another life she might like Leo Valdez, but she has to- at least until she goes away to University. "Goodbye, Leo Valdez."

Within weeks he develops the reputation of a bad boy. Within weeks she admits she's interested in the boy she brushed off in the hallway after math class.

(It doesn't matter though. None of it does.)

Maybe in another life it would have.


	59. Angel

**59\. Angel**

"Do you believe in Heaven, Leo?"

Leo's quietly surprised because Reyna's still somewhat of an anomaly to him. Closed off and quiet, she exudes a confidence that just makes you know she doesn't need anybody else, she doesn't start conversation.

She reminds Leo a lot of Annabeth- especially of the way Annabeth was before she was reunited with Percy.

The thought makes him sad.

And now the demigods have just rescued Annabeth and Percy from Tartarus and Reyna just arrived on her pegasus and had to put Scipio down and Leo sees a look in her eyes that he's all too familiar with.

Reyna looks lost, she's trying to find answers, and Leo senses that she needs to talk to someone.

And honestly, everybody else on this ship, except for them and Nico, have someone to talk to.

He thinks of Calypso and he wonders if he'll ever have that with her. On Ogygia it had been hard to think past the next hour, hard to imagine anything past getting off the island. Leo never fully comprehended the fact that Calypso is a Titan. She is immortal and she will not age and Leo will- hopefully- and he's not sure if he's ready for something like that. She was immortal before she was banished to her paradise and she will be immortal after because she is a Titan and that doesn't just change because she steps foot off of a piece of land.

He will rescue her because he promised her. But after that… he doesn't know what he'll do.

He meets Reyna's eyes from across the kitchen counter (all of his midnight talks on the Argo II seem to happen here) and he thinks, selfishly, that it feels good to not be the only person who's alone.

"No," he says. "How can I, when I know that the Olympian gods and their myths are real? I don't believe in Christianity."

"Not Christianity," Reyna says, staring at the mural of Camp Half-Blood with the strangest look on her face. "Heaven. Angels. That sort of thing."

"I believe in the gods," he says, trying to figure out where her thoughts are going. "In the Underworld and Olympus. I suppose if I believe in Heaven, Olympus is it."

She sighs and meets his eyes finally and he feels, just for a second, that he can see past her walls. "Do you ever wish that some other things were right?" She asks. "That it's not just the Greeks and Romans who were onto something? Do you ever wish you could just… choose to escape it all? Find something else to believe in?"

"All the time," he answers, because it's the truth and he thinks he finally understands what she's trying to say. "But, Reyna," it's the first time he's said her name and it rolls off his tongue easily, "none of those choices are easy. Every single religion, every single story, had some sort of problem."

She stands up from the stool she's sitting on and he realizes that only the counter separates them. "You're right, of course. I'm sorry, I'm just- in a strange mood."

He thinks of the look on her face when she had to kill her horse and he thinks he understands, just a little, because Festus died once too.

She shakes her head. "This is our life, we don't get to choose another one. I just- sometimes I wonder."

"Yeah," Leo says. "Me too."

She shoots him a surprised look a small smile. Then she leaves.

They don't talk about that conversation for a long, long time.


	60. Progress

***Warning for child abuse and violence but... you guys should be able to handle it. Also, less Leyna and more Hylla/Reyna sisterly relationship. Hope that's okay! This AU, I've decided, is slow burn for our favourite couple.**

**60\. Progress**

It happens the day after Hylla screams her heart out and Reyna loses all shred of hope for her father.

He'd found out about the boy Hylla had been seeing.

Reyna had watched in stunned silence as he'd backhanded Hylla across the face, leaving the oldest daughter with her hand pressed to her burning cheek.

She met Reyna's eyes, who was staring in horror, and something hardened in the older girl's.

"Reyna," Hylla had said, so eerily calm that Reyna had been afraid of her own sister and of what she might do to their dad. "Leave."

Reyna's frozen shock broke and she stepped forward, reaching for her sisters cheek, wanting to help…

Their father sneered. "Trying to stop her from seeing you cry?" He spat. "Can't show any weakness, can you? Just like your no good slut of a mother-"

"Reyna, get out!" Hylla yelled, staring down their father.

Reyna looked back and forth between the both of them and left.

She didn't know what else to do.

She grabbed the old beat up IPod that Hylla had given her for her birthday and unwound the headphones from around it before sticking them in her ears and turning the music on.

She hears screaming so she turns up the volume.

She hears a crash, something breaking and then a thwack before deadly silence fills the air, so she turns the volume louder after crawling into bed and curling up in a loose ball.

She closes her eyes and tries to not listen.

oooOOOooo

Reyna wakes up to Hylla sleeping behind her. She must have come to bed early this morning because Reyna had been awake until at least 2 am and hadn't seen her.

She wakes up minutes before the alarm and slips out of bed, getting ready quietly. She learned to be quiet in the mornings or else their dad will wake up, no matter how much alcohol he had the night before.

Neither of them want that.

She finds him on the couch in the living room and pulls up the thin blanket he sleeps with. He doesn't stir.

She almost takes the bottle out of his hand, but doesn't, afraid that will disturb him.

Hylla follows minutes later and Reyna studiously avoids looking at the dark blotch on her cheek.

Hylla gives her an uncharacteristic hug before the leave for school that day and Reyna can't help but lean on her, even though Hylla's the one who needs the support.

"Do you love him?" Reyna asks.

Hylla nods and they both ignore the wetness that falls on Reyna's neck.

Reyna kisses her cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispers.

Hylla nods again and then pulls away. Reyna turns and they walk out of the house, heading to school.

At school, life is different.

It's been weeks since Leo came to this area but since he has he's made a point of trying to talk to her.

She stays away as much as she can, and she knows today she should do the same, or try harder, because of what happened with Hylla.

(She sees Hylla's boyfriend, Todd, a couple of times throughout the day. And even though Todd knows about their father, they breakup that day. They both look miserable for months after.)

Hylla says nothing about it.

Leo slides into the desk in front of her in math. "Hey."

Usually she'd ignore him, but she thinks about their father and the screams and breaking glass from last night, and she realizes she doesn't want to.

She smiles instead.

And it's not much, but it's progress.


	61. Cabin

**Back by popular demand, here is a continuation of a different AU. **

**61\. Cabin**

She goes to his cabin that night, unable to resist.

She has things she needs to say, and goddammit, he's going to listen to her.

He can't just come to her quarters after months of being apart and avoiding one another and say he still loves her. And, what's more, after he does he cannot just turn and leave her clutching her desk with shaking arms trying to support herself enough to even stay _standing_.

Leo Valdez has always been the most infuriating man she's ever known but this- this is more than infuriating.

She's in a rage.

Later at dinner she hadn't even pretended she wasn't staring at him throughout the entire meal.

He never looked at her once.

In war games she was the supervisor and hadn't even glanced at any of the other demigods, missing- apparently- several maims, nine kids being knocked unconscious, Percy taking out almost everybody (again) and Annabeth being the only one finally able to disarm her boyfriend (again).

Gods be damned, she'd even told Leo he was acting against the code of conduct for the game and made him sit out, despite every demigod looking at her knowingly, and all he'd done was clap Frank on the back, whisper a piece of strategy in Annabeth's ear and gone to the showers to wash up.

He hadn't even _acknowledged_ her.

She'd turned her horse around to ignore the pitying looks from Annabeth, Piper and Hazel.

But enough was enough.

She barged into the guest cabin, turning the lights on and slamming the door.

"You two," she points at Jason and Frank. "Get sleeping beauty out of here and go find somewhere else to be for the night." She jerks her head at Percy who's drooling all over his pillow. Gods knew he wouldn't be woken unless someone was screaming in his ear.

She turns to Leo. "You." She narrows her eyes at him. "You and I are going to talk."

He's sitting there with a candle melting in one flaming hand, dripping slowly into a bucket- she thinks it best not to ask- staring at her so dumbfounded and surprised he doesn't say a thing.

He just stares, and if she'd wanted his attention earlier, she certainly had it now.

Thankfully Percy, the only one who might tease and not cower under her glare, is fast asleep and being dragged out of the small hut. Jason and Frank, thank the gods, have more tact and are much more polite.

They know it's time the two of them sorted this out.

When they're gone Reyna's shoulders relax but she keeps her expression guarded. "You," she points at Leo, "are the most infuriating, stupid, idiotic, annoying person I have ever known."

He stares at her some more and lets the last of the candle wax drip from his hand, melted and hot. There's not a trace of it left.

"And," Reyna says. "I'm still hopelessly in love with you."

Leo grins, _finally_, and stands, thankfully. "Really?"

"Really." Reyna nods. "It's becoming quite the problem for me."

"Is that so?"

"See, I left you so that I wouldn't be _that girl_. I never needed a guy before and I didn't see why I needed one now."

He raised an eyebrow. "But…?"

"But I can't get you out of my head," Reyna's words quieten. "You're everywhere, Leo, and it's driving me insane and I came here to say-"

"That you love me?" He's grinning.

"That I'm sorry I was so stupid." She smiles back at him. "And that yes. I love you too."


	62. Toys

**Don't judge me... I couldn't think of anything else for this prompt. **

**62\. Toys**

It might surprise people to know that out of the two of them, it's Reyna who likes toys.

In fact, even if it's only around him, some might say she gets positively _giddy_ over them.

Leo wonders if it's a girl thing but he knows if he asks he'll have at least three days if not a month of sleeping on the couch, so he wisely keeps quiet.

He would tell her no if he wanted… but he doesn't really want to, now does he?

Because he likes them too.

It's childish, he thinks as he watches Reyna buy yet another Lego set (that he's going to rip into as soon as they get home and build something out of) but they both seem to be more excited for these toys than the little baby coming who these are actually being bought for.

Yesterday he caught Reyna playing with a small plastic T-rex and Velociraptor figurines, waddling them across her swollen stomach and making growling noises.

Leo likes the Legos to build with, and he likes the crayons for designing and planning, but Reyna smiles over every little trinket they buy the boy.

(Because, yes, they're having a baby boy. Leo couldn't be happier.)

And even if the baby won't realize it, they're slowly buying enough Legos for Leo to build a model replica of Hogwarts- he loves Harry Potter and plans on listening to the audiobooks with his baby boy whenever he can.

He shakes his head but smiles and grabs Reyna's hand as they walk home to their apartment in New Rome. Eventually they'll move into a house, but for now their apartment fits the three of them just fine.

He wonders, if only to himself, if their baby will enjoy the toys as much as they do.

(Their baby boy actually ends up being a baby girl and they give all of their toys to Percy and Annabeth's three year old son, but hey, Leo thinks, it's worth it to see the look on Reyna's face as she has to buy Barbie dolls and fake makeup throughout the years.)

It turns out, Leo discovers, that Reyna prefers boys toys over girls. (Not that it makes any difference to him.)


	63. Last

**63\. Last**

Leo's heard people say that when you're dying your life flashes before your eyes.

It's not true, he discovers that day. Leo lays there gasping and as he dies, he thinks of his lasts.

Leo's last high five was earlier today with Piper, before they got their armor and suited up for battle.

Leo's last kiss on the cheek is from Annabeth who has a strange look in her eye and seems too sad- it's as if she knew one of them wasn't going to make it.

His last hug is from Jason right after he's made Jason laugh at a stupid joke. When Jason stops laughing the humor leaves his eyes, he looks at the army he's leading, gives a big speech, and then they charge Gaea and her giants.

Frank gives him his last nod, Hazel slips her hand into his and squeezes quickly before letting go, and Percy is Leo's last laugh. He's sad, because he thinks in another life he could have gotten along with Percy like two peas in a pod- they both have that sense of humor.

His last kiss is from Reyna and gods, what a kiss it was. It was all lips and tongue and he couldn't remember his name after, and almost forgot how to breathe. They charge into battle side by side, and when he loses sight of her, Leo panics, but only for a second.

Reyna's a big girl, she can handle herself. He knows better than anybody.

Leo's last foe is Polybotes and his luck finally seems to run out because when the spear pierces him all Leo can think was, 'Not fast enough this time.'

Percy comes up two seconds later and kills the giant with the help of Demeter (of all goddesses) and Leo understands now how loyalty could be a fatal flaw because the son of Poseidon is almost killed trying to stay with him.

(Percy goes to kill the dracaena and he doesn't come back. Leo doesn't blame him- he doesn't want any of his friends getting injured while trying to stay with his broken body lying on the ground.)

Later he thinks the fighting dies down. He spots Reyna and his last words are "Love….you…" Even though she can't hear him.

The last thing he hears is Reyna _screeching_, like she's the one who's been stabbed- but dying people don't make sounds, or at least Leo isn't, so that's wrong _isn't it-?_

He's too confused and his brain is foggy, he doesn't even know what he's_ thinking_ anymore.

Then sound fades until it's his heartbeat pounding in his ears. (He wishes it was Reyna's voice. That would be a nicer sound to die to.)

His last feeling is the teardrop that lands on his cheek and slither down his neck.

His last thought is, _dammit, we never got married._

Leo's last breath is the one that ghosts across Reyna's face just as she leans down to check if he's still breathing.

(He isn't.)


	64. Creature

**For those of you who aren't familiar with Tolkien's universe/world, this is set in the Hobbit/ Lord of the Rings world. Based off of the characters from the Hobbit, Tauriel and Kili, in this universe Reyna is an elf and Leo a dwarf. This scene takes place on a mountain range and I think everything else should be pretty self explanatory. **

**64\. Creature**

The combination of falling snow, ice from previous years that hadn't truly gone away at this cold height, and steep, crumbling steps were causing Reyna to move with caution, despite the fact that she was restraining herself from running, damn the risk.

She was an elf from Greenwood Forest and if Jason were still by her side he would laugh at her over her seemingly slow pace. He had been gifted with an extraordinary amount of grace and coordination and Reyna, although balanced and as agile as any other elf you'd find (barring the King, perhaps) was no match for her friend.

But Jason had left only moments ago to fight some creature or other, so now there was only her, struggling to make her way to the broken ruin of a tower that loomed in front of her.

The tower where Leo and his few companions had gone to fight the head of this orc army and his guard.

Reyna had to get to them. There was another incoming army of orcs making their way in from the north, planning to ambush the armies of men, elves and dwarves fighting at the base of the Lonely Mountain.

("_What you feel for that dwarf is not real_.") King Zeus' cold words rang in her ears.

She was risking herself to come and try to warn the dwarves. She knew that. But she would have come anyway to try to save Leo.

She could not let him die.

She passed many orcs as she moved forward, killing them as she went. There was a reason she was (_formerly_, the King banished you for following Leo to save him) the Captain of the guard.

She made it to what might have been the middle floor of the tower and took in her surroundings in her brief respite of the fighting. Half of the towers walls had crumbled away long ago, the stairs were loose and broken, full of holes and unstable stone.

She would never understand why beings built their towers, castles and strongholds on the face of mountains. The view may be pretty, to be sure, but it made no strategic sense.

She looked for curly hair and a war hammer, looking up at what she could see of the higher levels.

"Leo!" She called. "Leo!"

"Reyna!" A faint reply, full of worry, relief and fear.

Reyna's veins filled with relief at the sound of his voice- right before she was slammed into the stone stairway by her side.

The stench of orc filled her senses.

Quick reflexes saved her from the creature's mace.

He was huge and strong, taller than she, but she was quick. That was the only thing keeping her alive.

She was losing.

"Leo!" She screamed.

She couldn't land a blow and before she knew it was happening, a huge hand was wrapped around her throat, raising her in the air, causing her to kick at the air weakly.

Then, miraculously, Leo was there. Jumping from the level above he landed on the beast's shoulders, causing it to drop her.

Reyna blinked, stunned, as the orc threw Leo off and pinned him to the ground, his spear point resting on Leo's chest.

"No!" She screamed, scared at the sound coming from her mouth but too horrified to regret it.

Leo turned his head and Reyna felt tears pool in her eyes when they met his.

With an evil smirk, the orc drove the spear point through Leo's chest.

Reyna let out an agonized yell before picking herself up and throwing herself at him, grabbing her boot's dagger.


	65. Forgiveness

**This is the chapter with a warning for smut.**

**65\. Forgiveness**

"Well," he says, unable to stop the smile on his face from growing even wider. "That's good to know."

She'd come and kicked out Jason, Frank and Percy, just so she could tell him that she loved him too.

He was done pretending he had any pride left when it came to Reyna.

She shifts, from foot to foot, and he can't ignore any longer the fact that all she's in is a pair of boxer shorts- _his_ boxer shorts, he'd been wondering where they'd went- and a t-shirt that was slipping down one shoulder. Her hair was in a ponytail that was hanging over her shoulder and gods, he was staring now, wasn't he?

"And I was thinking," she spoke again. "That maybe, if you'll forgive me, we could try again."

Leo sighed and he could actually feel a weight lifting from him, a darkness that had crept in and started to grow roots that nobody could eradicate.

Except Reyna, apparently. And with only a few words.

"Is it raining outside?" He asks suddenly, because he's ADHD and it's the only rational thought he has at the moment.

"What?"

"Raining. Is it?"

"Oh-," she bites her bottom lip and glances outside. "Yes. Only slightly though, and it only started minutes before I came here-"

His lips are on hers before she can say anything else and if she's surprised she doesn't show it. Instead it's like she was expecting it as she melts into him, winding her arms around his neck, kissing him hopelessly, desperately, and he groans because it's been _months_ and there's a raindrop on her lips, her clothes are sticking to her like a second skin and _gods_-

"Your clothes are wet," he mumbles and he sucks haphazardly down her neck quickly, needing to taste and please, more, and please, yes, this, her, _them_.

She gasps and nods, gripping his hair and pulling his head back up to meet her lips in a scolding kiss that's messy and passionate enough to set his blood on fire. "Yes," she answers before sucking on a point below his jaw. "You should do something about that," she murmurs, right into his ear, before licking the lobe of it and pulling it into her mouth.

Leo sees white and gods be good, had she ever done _that_ before?

Before he's even fully aware of it he's pulling her to the bed with him, practically tearing off her clothes, helping her get him out of what he's wearing- the same as her- and then they're them again, they're back, it's like months ago, when they were all passion and lust (_love_) and late night conversations.

This is what Reyna and Leo are good at. The physical side. It's when the emotions start creeping in that they get screwed up and turned around.

Not this time, Leo promises as Reyna hovers over him, a soft, small smile on her lips, a hesitant but happy sparkle in her eyes. Not again.

He kisses her again, but it's softer this time, a promise, an apology, a plea.

She kisses him back and it's forgiveness and love and a thank you all rolled into one.

He groans her name at his release and she's breathless and tracing lazy circles on his chest afterwards but they're them and everything else can be sorted out later.

For now they'll be them without anybody else coming in to mess it up and make them doubt.

They know now. They need one another.

Nobody, not even them, would jeopardize that again.


	66. Rules

**66\. Rules**

The rules area simple, at least to her. They've never talked about them, of course, but they seem self-explanatory.

They fuck, any time either of them wants or needs to, and then they act like it never happened and go back to normal.

Reyna doesn't look or talk to anybody and Leo does what Leo does best- tries to flirt with as many girls as possible.

(It doesn't bother her, it's just kind of jarring when she walks down the hall and sees him sucking face with someone else. And nauseating. At least they have the decency to be discreet.)

So when he sits with her during lunch at the table that's become hers and hers alone (hello, she didn't scare that kid Octavian away for nothing) she's confused, a little angry, and concerned.

Because acting like they know each other in public, in front of the whole school, is breaking the rules.

"Hey." Leo sits down and picks up his fork, ready to dig into the lasagna that was served today.

"What are you doing here, Leo?" Reyna asks, putting her plastic cutlery down.

"You looked lonely."

"I sit here alone every day," she replied. Sometimes Hylla joined her, but not lately. Hylla hadn't been doing well since she had to break up with her boyfriend. "You didn't seem concerned then."

"Okay listen," he said. "I know the deal but my friends are wondering why I haven't tried to hit on you yet and my excuses aren't working. So pretend that I'm flirting with you and then, I don't know, get up and walk away or something."

It's not disappointment that pools in her stomach at his words. It's not, because no part of her, not even a small part, wanted Leo to have screwed up what they had and maybe try and actually be friends or something.

It's just fucking, she tells herself. Stop being stupid.

(Maybe a small part of her had thought he wanted to sit here just because he actually wanted to talk to her.)

She nods. "Got it."

"So the thing is, I have to keep talking so I look like I'm trying to charm you." He said before wiggling his eyebrows. "Look behind me and check if they're watching."

She does as he asks and, true enough, Annabeth, Percy, Frank, Hazel, and Piper are all watching the two of them looking extremely confused.

She meets Jason's eyes for a second and then looks away because…

…because Leo is leaning towards her and even though he swore to her he didn't wear cologne he smells good, and-

She clears her throat. "Yep, they're watching."

"Try to look like you're not enjoying talking to me," Leo says.

"I'm not."

"Well right now you just look bored, try to look…. annoyed."

She frowned at him even though now she was fighting not to smile. "How's that?"

He shook his head. "Now you just look constipated. Why are your lips twitching?"

She shakes her head and takes the last bite of her sandwich before standing up. "Alright, well, mission accomplished. Go back and tell them I rejected you."

"Did you?" He asked.

She hesitated, unsure of the look in his eyes. "That's what you want to tell them isn't it?"

He hesitates too before grinning. "Obviously. Meet me later?"

"Sure, you choose where."

And with that she walks away. Because, she thinks, one of us has to follow the rules.

(She never found out Leo hadn't sat with her because of something his friends had said.)


	67. Humour

**67\. Humour **

Reyna doesn't really joke often. Out of the two of them, Leo's the jokester. He's the one who pulls pranks and teases and makes up weird nicknames.

Leo's the funny one. Reyna's accepted that. She's more serious by nature, and that's okay with her. It's not like she never laughs, she just knows when it's time to actually be concerned over something.

She's always loved Leo's humour, no matter how many times she tells him otherwise, but one day she can't help but wish he would be able to have one conversation. Gods know she's not someone who likes to talk about feelings and what their relationship is or anything like that, but even she needs some clarity and reassurance occasionally. She starts to wish after a while that they could make it through one conversation without him making an ill-timed joke, them deciding to have sex instead of talk, or one of them accidentally insult the other with an offhand comment.

She gets home from work stressed and tired, walking into their apartment and throwing her keys on the coffee table, not caring when they slide off the other side.

It should be easier than this, shouldn't it? Being together. They should know by now-

She walks into the kitchen to find a plate of spaghetti waiting for her on the counter, along with a note.

_Rey,_

_I know you've been having a tough time at work lately- being all lawyery and stuff- and I know you need some time to yourself to relax. I drew a bath and it's ready for you, and I made the spaghetti. (Don't worry I checked, it actually tastes pretty good.) You may need to warm the food a little, but take as long as you need. I'm at Jason's for the night and won't be home until later._

_Love,_

_Leo._

She's not tearing up, okay.

She takes the spaghetti and eats it in front of the TV, watching a How I Met Your Mother rerun and thinking silly inconsequential things like how much she loves Robin and Barney together and that she's in love with her husband.

(Okay, the last one isn't silly at all, it's pretty damn important.)

And when she gets into the bath that has candles around it, enough bubble bath to last hours and rose petals on the floor, she thinks maybe she doesn't need to talk at all. Maybe she just needs to be taken care of once in a while.

She's glad she's found somebody to do that for her.


	68. Cat

**68\. Cat**

"No."

"But, baby-"

"Leo, no way in _hell_."

Leo puts down the cat and watches as it's shepherded back into the cage by the pet store owner. "But Mr. Fuzz really deserves a home."

Reyna sneezes. "Leo I hate cats, and on top of that you know I'm allergic. No way, you convinced me to get a pet but we are not getting anything other than a dog."

Leo pouts and watches as Mr. Fuzz curls up and goes to sleep. "Fine."


	69. Glass

**69\. Glass **

Reyna sometimes wonders if they lived in a glass house, what would people looking in see?

Would they see the garbage full of takeout containers? Because let's be honest, neither of them can cook. What would that make them think?

Would they see the pictures of friends and family, and the ones from their wedding day? What would that make a random passerby think of the couple that lives in that house?

Maybe they would pass by on a bad night, a night where they're worried about money because she's still in law school and he's trying to start his own mechanics business. What would people think of Leo and Reyna if they passed and saw them screaming at each other because money troubles lead them to fight about anything else they're bothered with.

Or would they see the good nights, when nobody's home, because it's date night and they're splurging on champagne and fancy food. The nights when the reminisce about the simple early days or imagine their future and just _talk_. Maybe they pass by at just the right moment of that night and would see them bursting through the door, lips moving across one another's perfectly from years of dancing this dance, tearing off each other's clothes and heading to the bedroom. (Or the table, or couch, or counter, or chair, or- you know what, forget it. That's probably enough.)

(Or even the floor. Any one, doesn't matter, they're not picky.)

Reyna's sitting with Leo, her feet resting on his lap, both of them drinking hot chocolate, and she smiles.

Because if they lived in a glass house, no matter what time people might pass by and no matter what they're doing , the passerby would see a happy couple who love each other.

And Reyna's okay with that.


	70. Miscommunication

**70\. Miscommunication**

"So that's it," Leo said, breaking moments of strained silence. "You don't want to marry me… or have kids."

"No, that's not it, that's not what I'm saying," Reyna said, rubbing her forehead tiredly. "Leo, I just graduated law school. I feel like I'm just starting my career and I need- I need time to get things in order-"

"I'm not asking you to move halfway around the world, Reyna, I'm asking if you want to marry me. I don't see why that should change anything. You can still get married and have a job."

"I didn't tell you no!" Reyna said. "I would never tell you no, because eventually I _do_ want those things with you, Leo. I want the big white wedding and the honeymoon and the kids. Just… right now I need to work on me and focus on my job."

"Reyna," Leo walked forward and took her hands, holding eye contact between them. "I know how important your job is, and I support you, you know I do. I am… so proud of you for getting through law school and doing as well as you've done. But I want to get married and have kids. You know how much I want that."

Reyna looked down at their hands before pulling hers away. "That's something I can't think about right now."

She glanced up at Leo to see his reaction and all she saw was shock and hurt.

"I love you Leo." Reyna said. "But I'm not ready to be a mom."

And in her mind how it works was you got married and soon after that you have kids on the way, and she just isn't ready. Why couldn't he understand that?

"I think…" He shook his head. "I think I'm going to stay at Jason and Piper's tonight."

"Leo-"

"I need time to think," he said. "Time away from you."

They both pretend she doesn't flinch at his words.

When he's gone the place is quiet and Reyna doesn't like it. Where is the sound of Leo banging around in the kitchen, or him taking a shower? Where his off tune humming or the sound of tools fixing yet another thing in their old apartment.

She feels guilt and doesn't know how to handle it so she calls Annabeth. If anybody can give relationship advice it's Annabeth.

So Reyna explains how Leo made an impromptu proposal and how Reyna saying 'Not Yet' escalated into a discussion of whether or not they want to spend the rest of their lives together and want the same things.

"And now he's staying at Jason and Piper's for the night and I'm- I'm…"

"Confused?" Annabeth supplied.

Reyna closed her eyes. "Did I say the wrong thing?"

There's a short pause on the other end of the line. "I think you said what was right for you," Annabeth spoke eventually. "But Leo… Reyna that guy is so in love with you and I think he took it as you saying you don't want to marry him ever."

"I didn't say that."

"I know," Annabeth blew out a breath. "But guys can jump to conclusions too when they're worried or emotional about something. And this is a big deal for Leo."

"It is for me too." Reyna sighed. "I'm just… not ready."

"Then say yes but hold off on the wedding." Annabeth said. "That way you have as much time as you need but Leo knows your answer."

When Leo walks in the next morning Reyna's sitting waiting for him. She gets up quickly and kisses him.

Then she says yes.


	71. Observant

**71\. Observant**

"Leo?"

"Reyna?"

She holds the phone shakily in her hand and tries to keep her voice casual. "Do you have time to talk? I'm at Central Park and-"

"Look Rey, I'm kind of busy right now, can it wait?"

She blinks rapidly, trying to get the beginnings of tears out of her eyes, and she nods, perhaps a bit too frantically. "Yeah, no, it's okay. It's fine, it was stupid anyway."

Leo hesitates. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, definitely." She swipes under her eyes, being careful not to alert him to the fact that she's breaking down in the middle of a very public place. "See you later?"

"Of course." Leo says, speaking slowly. "Love you."

"Love you too," she says, and then she snaps the phone shut.

It was stupid, she thinks as she swipes more tears away. She's sitting here on a bench in the park and she's freaking out about getting married in three weeks for no reason. She loves Leo, she knows she loves Leo and nothing will convince her otherwise but….

…but she's scared of how much she loves him.

She would die for him, she knows, and that scares her. And if he died it would wreck her, break her into a million pieces, because she doesn't want to live in a world where he isn't there to kiss her the next day.

And she's wondering if marriage is a bad idea because sometimes love isn't enough, right? They haven't exactly had the best track record and their relationship has been full of secrets and miscommunication and-

-now she can't breathe and she wonders if this is a panic attack.

_Breathe_, she hears Leo's voice in her head. _Breathe Rey, just breathe. _

Reyna breathes.

She stares at the grass, lost in thought, and wonders if she's making a huge mistake. If she could only have somebody here, reassuring her, talking her out of her crazy wedding jitters…

That's why she called Leo. She had hoped- she had been about to ask him to come find her because around him everything makes sense and her silly fears would seem just that- silly and stupid.

And she thinks it's a sign, you know? She's not one to look for signs from the universe or believe in destiny but this is undeniable. Because she called him feeling horrible and just needing him and he didn't even notice and just told her he had to go and-

"Reyna."

She looks up and he's standing right there.

"What," She takes a deep breath and tries to dash away tears. "What are you doing here, Leo?"

"You called me," he said.

"You said you were busy."

He shakes his head and goes to sit beside her. "You said it was fine and that it was stupid." He raises an eyebrow at her. "Nothing you could ever call me about is stupid, if it was you would handle it yourself. And I know that when you say it's fine…. it's not fine."

She sniffs. "When did you get so observant?"

He shrugs. "I guess it happens when you're in love."

She smiles slightly. Signs from the universe indeed.


	72. Accident

**72\. Accident**

Leo picks up the phone thinking Percy's calling to invite him to his and Annabeth's beach house at Montauk for the weekend. (They always forget that once they invite Reyna they don't need to separately invite him too.)

He thinks that it's just a perfectly normal, average phone call on a normal day, because who picks up the phone knowing that something bad has happened on the other end of the line?

Leo's right. Percy's calling to invite him over to Montauk. "And Jason and Piper are coming, I invited Nico and Will but they might be busy, they're gonna call me back-"

"Percy," Leo says. "You already invited Reyna. We're coming. Remember?"

"Oh right. It's so crazy, I always forget that now I just have to call one of you-"

That's the last thing Leo hears before he sees the headlights from where he's sitting in the back of the cab.

It's the last things he hears before the screeching of brakes takes over and eliminates every other sound.

He's thrown forward, his seat belt jarring into him, and he hears a bone crack even before he sees the oncoming car crash into the taxi he's in, or hears the sound of metal colliding with metal. And the last thing he feels before all of those sights and sounds goes away, is pain, radiating everywhere, all over his body.

Then he loses consciousness.


	73. Sigh

**73\. Sigh**

Leo heard Reyna sigh. "This is stupid," she called out.

"Keep looking!" A voice that sounded like Percy hissed from the darkness.

"Yeah Reyna, you'll never find us!" Travis called.

Leo smiled to himself and peeked through the patch of trees he was hiding in. A group of demigods were playing hide and go seek that night near the forest and Leo had hid behind the cover of some branches that created a little niche; the perfect place to hide.

Reyna was seeking- and not enjoying it by the sounds of it.

He saw her pass just in front of the trees he was hiding in and smiled. Her flashlight hadn't even moved over to check close to where he was.

"Seriously guys, we should go swimming or something." Katie called.

"Yeah, I'd love to go swimming." Annabeth agreed.

"Whatever you losers decide to do it'll be lame!" Clarisse yelled from far away.

"Don't listen to her, she just wants to keep winning." Chris called in response.

"We could swim after Reyna's found all of us." Leo suggested.

Reyna paused and turned around, heading back to where his voice had come from and Leo groaned internally. He shouldn't have opened his mouth.

"Where are you, Leo?" Reyna asked. Her flashlight crept closer to his thicket of trees, stopping near where their lowest branches were brushing the ground.

Leo held his breath and she got closer to him, her flashlight shining around only to stop on the sight of his sneakers.

"Found you." Reyna called.

"You have to come and get me!" He replied.

Reyna sighed again. "Seriously?"

"Unless you wanna keep looking alone."

Another sigh. "Fine."

She cracked several branches and then before she knew it Leo was putting his arms around her and pulling her to him, causing her to shriek indignantly and wack him on the shoulder.

"Hey," he said.

She rolled her eyes. "Leo, what are you-"

He kissed her to shut her up. He meant for it to be over quickly, he really did, but then she did that thing with her tongue which caused him to groan, which made him open his mouth, which made Reyna slip her tongue in and-

And then they were backed up against a tree and making out like crazy, forgetting all about the demigods outside their little hiding spot who were still debating whether to keep playing or not.

Eventually they sorted themselves out and pulled away from one another. Reyna rested her forehead against Leo's shoulder and sighed, this time in happiness.

"Later," Leo said. "Right now we have some people to find."

Right on cue Jason yelled out, "Hey Reyna, where are you? You better not be making out with Leo somewhere!"

Reyna sighed for what seemed like the billionth time before surprising Leo by giggling. "Later," she agreed.

Leo sighed in resignation. That would have to do.


	74. Treasure

**74\. Treasure**

What things do you treasure in life?

Leo sits and holds his newborn baby girl in his arms, rocking back and forth in the rocking chair beside her crib, and ponders the question.

Not what things do you appreciate. Or what things you want. What things did he absolutely _treasure_?

His friends, he knows. Jason and Piper for sure, they've been with him forever it seems like. Percy, Frank, Annabeth and Hazel. Nico and Will. His group. His posse, you might say. Each and every one of them have been there at a time he needed somebody, they've been great friends to him and he wouldn't be the man he is today, living the life he is, without them. He loves those guys.

He loves his baby girl. Leo knows this with every cell of his being. He used to roll his eyes at parents when they said they would do anything for their babies and that the child is a part of them, etc. He knows parents love their children, but really? He always thought they were exaggerating.

Now he knows they were speaking the truth. He doesn't know how, but the moment April was put in his arms he knew that he would do everything in his power to make her happy. She was his main concern now.

Yes, he treasures April.

"Are you ever coming to bed?"

He looks up and sees Reyna standing in the doorway, smiling at him tiredly. She's in a green bathrobe and her hair is a wavy curtain falling across her shoulder. She's slouching from exhaustion a bit but her eyes are sparkling as the take in the scene before her and he wonders how long she was standing there.

Her face is tired, she's not wearing anything close to fashionable and she might not be feeling her best, but Leo can't help but think that she's the most beautiful thing in the world at that moment.

This woman gave him their baby. Reyna gave him countless kisses and smiles and laughs, she's stayed up all night talking to him before whenever he needed her to. She held his hand all the way through her labor and he kissed her as she fell asleep afterwards. Reyna's given him her heart and taken care of his own.

Leo knows what he treasures most.

It's his family, and nights like these. He treasures his friends, his daughter, and most of all, his wife.

So he smiles at her and stands slowly, careful not to jostle April. "Just coming," he says, before setting their daughter down in her crib, taking Reyna's hand, kissing her softly, and going to bed.


	75. Cry

**A.N. I'm going to be on a three week hiatus of this story everybody. I wish I didn't have to, since we're almost at the end and I'm having so much fun writing these, but I'm going on a holiday to Europe and will be too busy in Paris, London and Scotland to write :( I'm really sorry and promise I'll be back to writing as soon as I'm home. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**75\. Cry**

Reyna doesn't cry.

She hasn't for years. Not since that time Leo and her broke up because she wanted to go back to Camp Jupiter.

(_Stupid, stupid, stupid.)_

She doesn't cry when Percy calls her, panicked and saying that Leo's been in an accident. (Funny, usually Annabeth and Percy forget that they're dating again but this time he remembered and she was the first person he dialed.)

Funny.

(_It's not_.)

She doesn't cry when she gets to the hospital after finally tracking down where it was, and she sees Leo, unconscious, tubes coming out of him, vital signs _beep, beep, beeping_.

She watches as Annabeth and Hazel and Frank cry, hears Piper crying over the phone and then telling Jason, who chokes up, and she doesn't even tear up.

(She thinks it's called shock, but she's not sure.)

(_She doesn't feel for a while.)_

When the doctor comes and tells her Leo didn't make it she stumbles, clutches her chest because gods, her heart _hurts_, it's _raw_, but as Percy and Piper catch her, she still doesn't cry.

(_I'm sorry, there's nothing we could do_, the doctor says, and she wants to punch him in the face because he's a doctor and goddammit, what else is he good for if not for saving Leo?)

She watches the rest of them cry, feels their eyes on her, waiting for her to crumble and shatter, but she doesn't.

(She doesn't try to console them either. She grabs her purse and leaves as quickly as she came because it's starting to dawn in her mind. She doesn't feel it yet, but it's trickling in, slowly, and she wants to shut out the realization.)

It's been a week since Percy called her and she hasn't cried.

But she gets home that night and the apartment is empty.

(_He's not coming back.)_

She blinks and there's a tear.

She walks forward slowly, like she's drunk and afraid to fall. She's cautious because this is her apartment, _their_ apartment, but it all seems so different now than it did last time she was here.

She takes a shower, and the water streaming from her eyes blend with the shower water so she pretends they aren't there.

But then she gets out and goes around the apartment wearing nothing but a bathrobe Leo bought for her and she sees a bowl he left out from the morning he left.

(He would always leave the dishes until he got home, something that drove her nuts.)

And before she's even aware that she's doing it, Reyna throws the bowl and screams, watching as it shatters against the wall.

_That's_ when she cries.

(Full out sobbing, her knees buckle and she grabs the armrest of the couch, but her arm's shaking so she lets go and falls the rest of the way to the ground.)

That's when it hits her.

Leo's _gone_.

He's not coming back.

It tears her apart inside and she cries and cries and hopes someone out there is happy for doing this because if not- god, what a waste.

She sobs and sobs and then she finally sits up after hours and catches sight of a picture and cries some more.

(She breaks a lot of things.)

She doesn't pretend she's okay. She skips work and ignored the phone calls. Nobody at work knows what happened to Leo, and how could they? She hasn't talked to anybody since the hospital.

People knock on her door and she doesn't answer. Eventually they'll go away.

Reyna cries, because now that she's started she doesn't know how to stop.


	76. Beauty

**76\. Beauty**

Beauty is full of misconceptions.

Leo has heard almost everyone he know describe their ideal girl or the best possible looking guy there could be. Every single one of them is different, every person places value on different things, likes a certain characteristic more than others. Some are influenced by the media, others by their friends, some by their family or the way they grew up.

Beauty, to Leo, no matter what, where, when, or how, is fake.

Because somebody who's beautiful to one person could be downright ugly to another. Or one person may define beauty as something completely different to another. Someone might think brown eyes are gorgeous while others think hazel can't be matched.

It's not something Leo puts much stock in, the concept of beauty. When someone tells him something or someone is knock out gorgeous he usually waits until he's seen it for himself to make his own opinions.

But Reyna.

Gods, Leo doesn't know how anyone can look at Reyna and not immediately fall in love with her. He doesn't understand how anyone can look at her and not be attracted to her because she is absolutely, without a doubt, beautiful.

He has kissed every inch of her body. Believe him- he knows.

He has seen every dip and curve, every freckle, every scar. Every bruise and imperfection and perfection. Leo's seen them all.

And he thinks every single one, every mark, is absolutely stunningly beautiful.

Is Reyna beautiful?

She has her bad days but most of the time (all of the time, he's just trying to save some pride here and not look like a love struck fool) she's stunning.

And how does Leo know that beauty is a unique perspective?

Because Reyna looks at him and thinks the exact same things he thinks about her.


	77. Clock

**77\. Clock**

Why is it when you're with someone you are head over heels in love with there just never seems to be enough _time_?

Reyna's not a philosopher. She doesn't spend time thinking about deep meaningful things or trying to figure out the purpose of life. Nothing like that.

But lately whenever she's with Leo it's like she can just hear a clock in the back ground going _tick, tick, tick. _Lately she's realized that no matter how much time she spends with Leo it will never be enough for her, she'll always want more, and if this is what love feels like, if it comes with realizations like this and painful emotions, she knows now why Eros is feared by everybody, even the gods.

She's not sure what brought it on. Lately since the baby was born she's had time to watch TV and it might be the latest episode of Sherlock, or How I Met Your Mother. She's taking it all to heart which she really shouldn't, and she's scared because in TV people die all of the time and she sees the other characters reactions and she's scared of that every happening to her.

She can just hear it, no matter where she is or what she's doing. _Tick, tick, tick._

She has to learn to set it aside but it's hard. Now they have a baby and she has two people it would destroy her to lose and-

"Rey?"

She looks up and meets Leo's eyes. He's staring at her worriedly and she sighs.

"Sorry, what?"

He frowns. "What is it?"

She shakes her head. "What do you mean?"

"Rey."

She's being silly, she's not usually like this but gods, she can't help but just be worried to lose their family.

"Nothing." She says, trying to mean it.

"What?"

It takes her a while to respond, enough time for Leo to stand up from the dinner table and pull her up from her seat only to wrap her in his arms.

She melts against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I just realized," she says into his neck, "that I am absolutely terrified to lose you."

Leo stills. It doesn't reassure her.

"Hey," he pulls away just as she takes a deep breath, trying to calm down because gods, what is wrong with her? "That will not happen."

"Leo," she reaches a hand up to frame his cheek. "You can't know that."

"I can." He says. "Because I would never leave you. And I have the most bad ass wife here to protect me from anything that might try to take me away."

She looks up at him.

"There's no way you'd let anything hurt me." He says, eyes searching hers. "You don't have to worry."

"Do you?" She asks. "Ever worry, I mean."

"All the time," he replies. "But then I remember- there has never been anything or anyone on this earth that has defeated you Rey." He smiles. "We both know you can handle yourself."

She sighs. "Do you know," she says, "that you are my biggest strength and my biggest weakness all in one?"

Leo laughs. "Oh Rey," he says, "I'm pretty sure that's what love is meant to be."

Somehow, Gods know why, that manages to reassure her.


	78. Wish

**78\. Wish **

It's funny how when life starts to go wrong people get greedy.

Like now, Reyna is standing there, frozen with shock, unable to move or form whole thoughts, staring at her surroundings.

Everything around her is breaking.

She's begging for something, for many things, pleading in her mind, _please, please, please_, and it's not working.

She's watching, incapable of anything, as Leo is stabbed in front of her eyes.

Gaea stands over him, a wicked pure green sword that emanates evil, powerful sickly sweet smelling magic, held in her hand.

Of course it's not pure green anymore because there's a steady stream of dripping scarlet blood falling from its point onto the ground.

"There." Gaea's voice is like raging rapids, washing over Reyna, filling her mind, drowning out anything else that may be going on around her.

Like Piper's broken scream or Percy's roar of anger. Frank's choked cry and Jason, stumbling back, his arms hanging at his sides, a look of absolute horror on his face. Or the fact that Leo had told her earlier that he was the only one who knew how to take Gaea down.

And now he was-

"That's one down," Gaea's voice is satisfied but calm as she surveys the demigods standing in a half ring before her. "Six more to go?"

And its' the fact that she doesn't even acknowledge that Reyna is standing right there, having just watched Leo's life leave his body, or Nico or the faun Grover and Tyson the cyclops. The immortal is focusing on the rest of the Seven, as if the others didn't even matter.

"You're going to die," Percy stepped forward, and for a second Reyna feels a flicker of fear because Percy looks _terrifying_. "If I have to spend the rest of my life making sure it happens, I will. I will kill you."

Gaea laughs and Reyna squeezes her eyes shut.

She can't get the image of Leo's body out of her mind, and she wishes, will all of her heart, that this is just a bad dream and the real fight will happen tomorrow. Or never.

"Perseus Jackson," Gaea's eyes are glinting now, she's enjoying this, and Reyna feel a sick twist in her stomach. "So powerful but so easily broken. I'm immortal, my dear, even your girlfriend should be able to tell you that you can't kill me."

Reyna can't stand it anymore. She breaks ranks- for the first time in her life- and runs to Leo, ignoring Gaea's cruel laughter as everybody watches, eyes glancing back and forth from her to Gaea.

She's not crying, but her hands are shaking, and she doesn't hear anything else that Percy and Gaea say, she feebly tries to stem the blood flow coming from Leo's chest.

And that's when she feels it.

His heartbeat. Strong and loud and constant.

"Leo?" She breathes.

He cracks his eyes open, only slightly. "Hey Rey," he says only for her to hear. "Ready to kick Mother Nature's butt?"

"You- how-?"

An empty glass vial appears when he opens his clenched hand.

Leo grins. "I guess there are such things as miracles." He grabs her hand. "Now come on. Let's kill this mother."

When Reyna pulls Leo up, only Annabeth doesn't look surprised.

Reyna supposes somebody else had to be in on whatever their plan had been.

"You," Gaea breathes when she turns around to meet Leo's eyes, and Reyna sees fear flicker in her own. "How-?"

Leo's hands light up. "Get ready to go to sleep," he replies. "It's past your bedtime."


	79. Parent

**79\. Parent**

Reyna and Leo have the opposite experiences when it comes to parenting.

Leo's mother was loving and kind and taken from her too soon.

Reyna's father was horrible and sad and she wished she would never have to see him again until finally… she made sure it happened.

Their track records definitely haven't been spotless.

But when Reyna takes the test and the little plus sign shows up on the stupid stick, she looks up slowly to meet Leo's eyes.

And she can't help but think that he'll make the most amazing parent.


	80. Unexpected

**80\. Unexpected**

"I need to leave, Leo, you don't understand."

"You're right, Reyna, I really don't, because it doesn't make sense. I know you love me, I know it, and now, all of a sudden, you have to leave? To go where? Do what? See who?"

"It's over, Leo, and that's all I have to say." The words are actually paining her to say them, but she has to.

She _has_ to. The goddess told her so in her dream.

'_If you stay with him…. it will end in the destruction of both of you._'

His next words are an unexpected whiplash, causing her to flinch. "If you walk out that door now you're a coward. If you leave, in the middle of everything going on right now, if you abandon our friends and _me_-"

"Leo-" she tries to say but he talks over her.

"I never want to see you again."

Pain sears through her but she makes sure to hide it from him. Instead she juts her chin up in the air, and grips her backpacks strap tighter. "You don't mean that."

"I do." His voice doesn't waver, but his eyes look like their filling with misery. "Reyna, we _need_ you here. I can't _do_ this without you-"

"I'm trying to help you by leaving," she says. "I- there's things I need to do, questions I need answered."

"Then why can't I go with you?" He shouts. "Why does it have to be you alone?"

"_You may be able to come back to him one day, if you succeed. But it will be a painful journey, for both of you._"

"Leo, you can't change my mind." She says. Inside she's begging him, to please let her go, let her leave, she doesn't want to have to-

"I'm not letting you leave. I swore I wouldn't let this come between us-"

"You don't even know what this is!"

"Then tell me!"

She makes a decision then. A decision she will regret later, but now it seems the only way.

"I don't love you. You're wrong. I thought I could, I tried, for both of us. But… I can't. You're not enough for me Leo, and being around Jason all the time…" She trails off suggestively, turning around to leave, but the utter devastation in his voice stops her.

"Jason?"

She squeezes her eyes closed before taking a deep breath. She has to do this. It's the only way to keep Leo safe.

Even if it means breaking both of their hearts.

"I thought I was over him, but I'm not. I can't even look at him without- without wishing it was me in Piper's place. I'm sorry Leo, but I can't stop wanting Jason."

It's the lowest of blows, the only thing she thinks will silence him.

She's right.

When she turns her head to glance at him he's stumbled back at her words, grabbing at the arm of the couch for support.

And she can see it on his face. Pain. So much. Heartbreak and pain and…

… no surprise.

Because this has always been one of his biggest insecurities in their relationship and she knows it. She knows he feels like less than Jason and she's sorry to be doing this.

She has to leave.

"Goodbye, Leo. Don't try to stop me."

He won't.

He doesn't say anything as she walks away.


	81. Dark

**This idea came from the Vampire Diaries, which I unashamedly watch obsessively. It comes from the idea that vampires can disconnect from their emotions at will. This erases feelings like pain and loss and grief, but also like love and hatred, fear and guilt. Basically it makes you feel nothing but fleeting feelings. Humanity can be switched back on, but only through a specific trigger, or trigger, something that even with no emotions, the person feels for deeply, so deeply that they will still feel for it or them if made to focus on it long enough, which eventually leads to them feeling other emotions as well. Hopefully that helps and this isn't too confusing. **

**81\. Dark**

Somewhere, deep inside of him, he's wondered what it would be like to turn off his humanity.

The others, Percy, Annabeth, Hazel and even Piper, they'd all done it before. At least once in their long (or new) vampire lives.

Really, Jason was the only one who hadn't.

Frank, poor, human, fragile Frank, is begging with him not to.

"Reyna wouldn't want this Leo."

But that wasn't true, was it? Leo thinks. Because Reyna had been alive for more than 700 years now and she had told him all about the time she'd switched off her humanity.

Of course, he hadn't expected to actually see it himself. But now that she had once more flipped the switch she was ruthless and conniving and _dark_. She hurt people simply because she was bored- and it's pretty hard to trick an ancient vampire who's much stronger than the rest of them and used to every trick in the book.

Her only weakness, she'd told them, was Leo. Leo was the way back to her humanity- and she hadn't wanted it back.

So she'd captured Hazel, Frank's girlfriend, Leo's friend, and the rest of them were scrabbling to catch up and figure out _why_\- because Reyna had been Hazel's friend too- until Reyna told them.

She would kill Hazel unless Leo turned off his humanity. Because without his humanity, she reasoned, he wouldn't be the person she fell in love with.

(Leo didn't know if that was true. All he knew was that he still loved _Reyna_, even without her humanity, despite the awful things she was doing.)

"I have to." Leo said. "She'll kill Hazel and then move on to somebody else if I don't."

"Leo-"

"Don't let them stop trying to bring me back Frank, keep trying. Because then I'll get her back again. I swear."

"Leo, come on man-"

"Leave," Leo said. "I don't know if I'll hurt you after. "Go find Annabeth or Percy. Ask them to help. They should be able to figure something out."

"They're in New York right now-"

"Bring them back!" Leo said. "And tell Jason and Piper to get over here. They'll be able to help me."

"But-"

"Go, Frank!"

"Okay," he said. "Okay. We'll get you back, Leo, I swear. And Reyna too."

"I hope so," Leo whispers, but it's so quiet he knows Frank won't hear.

Frank leaves and Leo waits until he hears him drive away before relaxing.

And then he does it.

He flips his humanity switch.

And after that? He feels numb. Distant. Nothing gets to him, he doesn't feel emotion over anything. His emotions are gone.

Fine, he doesn't really care about that either. Some things feel good, some don't.

Seeing Reyna after he flips it, feels good.

She can tell the second she sees him because she lets Hazel go. Hazel tries to stay, to talk to Leo, but he rolls his eyes and he can see it dawning on her too, as he speaks harsh, uncaring words to her. He knows the second she figures it out.

Her heart starts to beat faster, louder, and Leo laughs at her fear of him.

Reyna looks him up and down carefully until, finally, she smiles.

"Ready?" She asks.

"For what?" He asks, bored now that Hazel's gone.

(Safe. To Frank and the rest.)

Reyna's grin is wicked. "To have some real fun."

He looks up at her and slowly meets her grin with his own. "Of course."


	82. Candy

**82\. Candy**

Leo makes sure that Reyna always has a bowl of jellybeans on her table in the praetor's room. A full bowl of jellybeans.

It's her guilty pleasure, which he knows. When she's nervous or anxious, she pops a jellybean or two, or four, and it calms her. The candy works better on her than medication.

(Not that he's tested that.)

But he knows she's always busy, or finding things to make her busy, and he knows she forgets. So he does it for her, sometimes, just checks in when he walks by the praetor's house, makes sure the bowl is full, and then keeps going.

She never says anything and neither does he, but they both know the other is perfectly aware that they both know.

He likes doing it for her, and other little things. He's not sure when it started, shortly after he moved to Camp Jupiter, maybe even before it was official, but he does it.

And somehow he's like, unofficially moved into her sleeping quarters? Half his stuff is there and he sleeps there and spends most of his free time there when he's not building or fixing or training or something else that helps towards the eternal fight against monsters.

When did that happen?

But he knows for a fact that a Reyna without her jellybeans isn't a completely happy Reyna. So he does the best he can, and when she flops down on the bed beside him after a long day, only to kiss him, he knows what it's for.

It's for the little things. Because things like jellybeans and making sure he doesn't take over Reyna's space in this room of hers, matter. It all matters.

It's her way of saying thank you.

Kissing her back is his way of saying you're welcome.


	83. Journal

**Sorry this one has kept you waiting for so long guys, I just had no ideas or inspiration for this one at all. Nevertheless, here is the best I could do. I hope it's alright. The next ones should be better! Enjoy!**

**83\. Journal**

One night Leo walked into the kitchen of the Argo II after finishing his watch shift for the night. He'd just woken Percy and had left the grumbling and slightly scary son of Poseidon to take his place.

He hadn't expected anybody else to be up but he found, with some surprise, Hazel sitting on a chair with the soft glow of light glowing over her as she sat hunched over something.

When he walked closer he saw that it was a journal and her hand was moving over it swiftly, writing in small, neat cursive.

"Hazel?" He asked. "What are you doing up so late?"

She snapped the book shut suddenly, jumping at the sound of his voice. "Wh- Leo? What are you doing?"

He shifted slightly under her intense golden stare. Hazel was very pretty and had a quiet but undeniable air of power around her. Plus he'd just blown up her home and now they'd been thrown together on a quest to save the world, so shoot him. He was nervous.

He tried to grin but it might have come out as more of a pained grimace. "Just getting something to eat after finishing my shift on watch. You?"

"Oh. Just… writing, I guess." She blushed a bit. "I never used to keep a diary but I've heard it's pretty common these days? I mean, since coming… back… I've done it for a while now. It helps."

"Helps to document every crazy thing we go through so you can remember it for the rest of your life?" Leo asked skeptically.

She frowned at him. "It helps keep my thoughts in order. And it relaxes me. I like to write, almost as much as I like to draw." She blushed again. "I'm not very good. At either."

"Sure you are," Leo plucked the journal from her hand and flipped to a random page before she could react. "Reyna decided to start the day with another search for Jason. Surprise, surprise." Leo read.

He looked up. "Reyna? Your praetor?"

"Leo!" Hazel grabbed the book back. "You- I- that's rude! I could have written anything down."

Leo slid into the seat beside her, meeting her gaze. "I would have given it back as soon as you wanted, I was just curious." He shrugged. "I understand, not knowing people to know your thoughts sometimes."

She softened. "This is private."

"Okay," he nodded. "I'm sorry."

They sat in silence for a few seconds before he asked again, "Reyna is the praetor chick?"

"Yes."

"She's the one who had the hots for Jason."

"Umm… yes?"

From what Leo remembered Reyna was just as terrifying as Annabeth and possibly even more beautiful. "What's she like?"

"Reyna?" Hazel asked in surprise. "Uh, she's nice, I suppose. It takes a while to get on her good side. She's been though a lot though, and- and she's not good at getting close to people. I think she gets lonely."

"Really?" Leo asked in surprise. Reyna was one of those girls Leo figured would be rude and unsociable to everybody except her select group of friends.

She definitely didn't seem like someone who would be lonely.

Hazel nodded. "She doesn't really get to spend time with us like everybody else. She's always busy in charge."

Leo nodded, remembering what he'd seen of the praetor. He supposed it made sense.

And suddenly he felt a sudden, strong kinsman ship with this girl, who had pressure on her shoulders and wasn't good with people.

"I should go to bed." Hazel stood up. "Night, Leo."

He stood too. "Same. Night Hazel."


	84. Rain

**84\. Rain**

"Reyna would you just wait and listen-"

Reyna whirled around angrily when he tried to grab her arm, yanking it back to her body as if his touch _burned_.

"Listen to what?" She yelled back at him, ignoring the fact that they were both getting drenched from the pouring rain. Her clothes were already soaked through and any other time Leo would have found that extremely hot. "What can you possibly say to make this better? Leo, she told us! She told me, and she's never been wrong! She's Venus, for Jupiter's sakes!" Thunder boomed loudly above them but neither of them looked away from one another. "I will never find love with another demigod." Reyna repeated quieter, her gaze boring into him. "Neither of us can change that so- so we might as well stop trying to pretend-"

"She's wrong this time." He said. "Reyna, she's _wrong_. I know she is, and you're the only one who can convince me she's not. But don't let it be because of her, I won't believe it until you tell me you feel- that you don't feel for me what I'm feeling for you. Tell me that you don't see us being absolutely amazing together, fights and all. That you don't feel this attraction or this passion." She glances away and he keeps talking. "Tell me that the past few days haven't changed things between us. Just because Piper's mother stops by for a visit doesn't mean _anything_! I'm not ready to let the gods dictate everything in my life, especially not if it means never knowing what could happen between us. Because us together? Gods, that would be _incredible_."

She's breathing heavily, her cheeks are flushed and her eyes burn as they look at him, and he can't stop staring because she's so beautiful and because if she really does walk away he wants to remember her like this.

But then she takes a breath and he meets her eyes once more and she shakes her head again. "Leo, I can't." Her voice sounds broken. "Eventually you'll wake up one day and realize how messed up everything around me is. You'll want someone beautiful like Piper or fearless like Annabeth, or steady like Hazel, and I will never be them. I've been alone for so long-" Her voice cracks, "it's like I don't know any other way to be."

"You're not them," he agrees, stepping closer. "Reyna you are so much _more_. I don't spend days thinking about Annabeth's lips, or what Hazel would think if I went up to her and kissed her. I don't have the almost irresistible urge to grab Piper and make her moan and scream my name. No, I think about you, and your lips and your thoughts and what it would be like to have you under me, above me, just _with_ me."

He doesn't waver as he speaks. "I want you. I don't know what not wanting you feels like anymore, you've erased everything else and-"

He would have continued- he has a whole speech planned in his head- but Reyna's grabbing him and kissing him before he can finish.

The kiss is wet. And cold.

They're both shivering, but when they're lips touch it's like fire burning through them from that point. It's heated and messy and wonderful.

He pulls away.

"Tell me this isn't real." He demands. "That you don't feel this," he pulls her hand to cover his beating heart.

She squeezes her eyes shut. "I can't."

"Then damn the gods," Leo says, kissing her again. "We'll make our own destiny."


	85. Fall

**85\. Fall **

Reyna tells herself it's okay to fall in love.

She tries. She wants it so bad, she's desperate for it and she knows people notice sometimes, but she can't help it. She's been alone ever since Hylla left, has felt alone for longer than that even. She just wants someone.

She wants someone to pick her instead of Piper or Annabeth. She wants them to want her out of every woman in the world, to choose her, to not be able to go even a single day without hearing her voice. Reyna wants someone who will make her laugh and massage her feet and kiss her and make her yearn for things and-

She wants someone to make her feel not so alone anymore.

It's not a weakness, she tells herself, it's a strength. But she thinks after years of Hylla and her father telling her otherwise that she's conditioned to be alone.

But she wants it, she's sick of not having someone to just talk to and she wants someone to kiss and make her feel amazing and maybe leave her little things lying around occasionally.

She wants someone who will know to always keep her bowl of jelly beans full. To fill it when she forgets and who will get along with Aurum and Argentum.

So when she meets Leo Valdez she assumes he'll be like the rest. That he'll be one of _those_ guys.

He'll want the Annabeth's and the Piper's of the world. The Hazel's and the Gwen's. The girls who know how to talk to guys, or at least know how to be within three feet of them without insulting, glaring or finding them stupid.

Reyna is not one of those girls.

(Luckily for her, Leo Valdez is also not one of those guys.)

Leo is persistent and slightly annoying but he's fun and he likes her and eventually, the longer he's around, the more he's there, she opens up, she trusts him and that's huge for her.

She hasn't trusted anybody in so long.

And when the war is over and done with and he comes back to live in New Rome with Jason and Piper Reyna can't say she minds. He's often the third wheel to those two so somehow the two of them become a pair and spend time together. They find solace in their afternoon walks, he teases her for having a jellybean addiction and she insults him but by now he knows it's playful instead of sincere. They bicker almost constantly and she rolls her eyes at him and he makes fun of her but eventually, when she forgets to, he starts to make sure her jelly bean bowl is full.

And eventually Reyna realizes they she _likes_ him. A lot. And that when he's around she doesn't feel so lonely anymore.

Eventually she realizes she likes how he looks, that she wants to kiss his lips and lick his skin and have him between her legs and gods no, seriously, _Leo Valdez_? He's who she ends up falling in love with?

But then he makes her laugh and she can't look away from him for a second too long and she realizes, _yes_. This is what she wants, who she wants.

But she doesn't know what he wants.

So one day when they're training and they get a little to close she kisses him.

She can't help it.

Then he kisses her back and Reyna _knows_.

She's not alone anymore.


	86. Ghost

**86\. Ghost**

The first time she sees him she thinks it's her imagination. Her grief- that she has undeniably tried to repress- catching up with her. It's her subconscious trying to help her heal in the only crazy way it knows how.

She's wrong.

The second time is when she's walking in New Rome. He's just there, in that spot they always used to go on their breaks. The coffee shop with the blueberry muffins that he loved. He's standing and he's watching her and his eyes are so sad that she gasps and then turns and walks the way she came because no, he can't be here, he's _dead_.

The third is at Percy and Annabeth's house, and she's not sure if it's her imagination anymore or if it really is his ghost coming back to haunt her but none of the others see it and she can't hide how shaken she is so she excuses herself under the pretense of going to the bathroom.

The water is cold on her face when she splashes it but it doesn't tame her red cheeks. She's shaking as she sits on the toilet lid and holds her head just trying to _breathe_.

She's going crazy.

She hears a knock on the door and then Annabeth's voice from the other side. "Reyna? You've been in there for a while. Are you okay?"

She's not okay.

The door opens and Annabeth takes a look at her face before stepping inside and closing the door.

Then Reyna can't stop talking.

"-and now I'm seeing him everywhere and Annabeth I feel so guilty because what if- what does it mean? Why is it even happening? We weren't- I mean I wasn't- Leo-"

"Shh, hey. Reyna I know, okay?" Annabeth places a hand on her arm. "Believe me, I get it. Do you want to hear what I think?"

Reyna meets her eyes, tears forming in her own despite her willpower. "What?"

"I don't think you're seeing Jason because you were in love with him." Reyna opens her mouth but Annabeth continues before she says anything. "I think you're guilty because you're in love with Leo and happy with Leo and Jason died. And you feel bad for Piper and guilty for not finding him sooner- which nobody except you thinks, by the way- and I think you don't think you deserve to be happy with Leo because Jason is gone and you miss him."

Reyna shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense." She says. "Jason and I were friends, in the end. I swear Annabeth, after Leo and I started dating I didn't want Jason anymore-"

Annabeth smiled at her, but it was shaky. "I had a friend once. Luke. I thought I loved him until I met Percy and he changed everything." Annabeth was looking past her now, lost in memory. "Luke died," she continued. "And I dreamt about him for months after. It was- horrible. He said horrible things and it took me a long time but I finally told Percy about it."

"Was he mad?"

"I think he was hurt more than anything. Because I hadn't told him sooner. But he helped me, Reyna, and I think Leo could help you."

"I don't know," she said.

"Jason was his best friend." Annabeth said. "He more than most understands missing him."

Annabeth got up and moments later Leo appeared. He took one look at her and then sat on the bath rim and took her in his arms.

"It'll be okay." He promises. "Whatever it is, it'll be okay."

Reyna believes him.


	87. Key

**87\. Key**

"Hurry up Dakota," Reyna hisses into her earpiece, making sure to scan the dark hallway once more as she stands beside the door. "I need this door unlocked-"

"Chill, Rey, I got it." As his voice sounds in her ear she hears it unlock. She slips in before anyone has a chance to come around the corner and see her in black clothing lurking around the boss' office.

"Remember what Lupa said, Reyna. In and out, get the info on the USB and that's it."

"I know, Dakota." She does not want to hear this- again.

"It's just- I know you two have history…"

"As long as you've taken care of Annabeth and Percy, I can do this."

"Annabeth is currently attending a conference in Greece and Percy is with her. Jason has been placed as temporary head of security in his absence. Watch out for him, he'll be-"

"He's with Leo."

"He knows us, Reyna. He was one of us before he… switched over. Be careful. He'll know this was you."

"Let him figure it out." She growls. "I'll be long gone by the time he does."

"And Leo?"

"I'll be gone, Dakota. Stop worrying."

She disconnects from him before he replies and hurriedly takes in her surroundings. Leo's office is the exact same as it was last year- she wonders if it's strength or weakness of his that he keeps things so in place.

Weakness, she supposes. Being predictable usually is.

She knows how to avoid the hidden traps and cameras and she does so easily, covering the cameras and disabling them as she goes so that she can make a quick escape without having to worry, if she needs to.

She shakes her head. He should have changed these things. After her year of getting close to him, of being undercover and working with him, of… being with him, he should have installed something new that could catch her.

But he always did trust his friends to keep people out. Too much. Even Percy and Annabeth can't keep out everybody.

Annabeth, the head of his intelligence, Percy, head of security. Jason his second in command. And Piper, the woman Leo keeps on his arm for appearances, chatting up the press with their half-sibling relationship.

She knows how Leo and the people important to him work. She was his fiancée, after all, before her side decided they'd gotten all the info they could get on Leo Valdez and she would be more useful elsewhere.

The betrayal on Leo's face when she'd shot Percy had been branded in her memory. Damn her for missing and hitting the man's shoulder instead of his heart like she'd intended.

And if Frank and Hazel had doubted her story, well she didn't care. The three of them know she is the best in their business, that she misses none out of a hundred shots. She should have had that shot. It had been in close range and Percy had been caught off guard, defenseless, there had been nothing stopping her.

Except the thought of Leo's face when he had barged in and seen them.

Reyna had fired quickly, grabbed what she'd needed, and left. She hadn't seen either of them again in person since.

She planned to keep it that way.

Quickly she went to Leo's laptop and typed in the possible passkey.

None work and she cursed before, after hesitating, typing in one word.

_Reyna_.

It unlocks and she ignores the twist in her heart, plugging the USB in.

The door opens.

"Reyna."

She straightens, heart beating fast.

"Leo."


	88. Two

**88\. Two**

It takes two seconds exactly for her to take in his appearance. His suit, a dark black over a white button up, black tie. His hair, still curly as ever, but styled subtly. His mouth, his eyes.

It takes another two for her brain to remember, oh, here we are. He obviously wants to know why I shot his head of security and bolted, never intending to see him again, only to end up here in his office.

She does the only thing she knows how to do in situations like these.

She pulls out her gun and aims it at him, clicking off the safety, holding a finger lightly on the trigger. "Don't move."

"What-," he shows no intention of moving, seemingly frozen to the spot. "What are you _doing_ here?"

Stupidly she slips the USB into the hidden pocket of her pants. "I'm just leaving actually."

She makes sure the gun never wavers as she walks forward. "Where's Jason?"

"He- with Piper," Leo watches her, eyes hardening. "I sent them home for the night."

She shakes her head. _Never careful_. "Leo."

"If you're going to kill me…"

"I'm not."

"Why?"

"That's not my mission," she looks down, but barely for a second. "I got what I came for."

He shakes his head. "Just another mission then? Like last time?"

She swallows. "Not exactly like last time."

He laughs, bitterly. "Of course, how silly of me. This time you don't fool someone into thinking you love them."

She rolls her eyes, ignoring her heart clench. "It was nothing personal."

"It's always personal." Leo meets her eyes. "We know that better than any of them."

She doesn't reply.

"Well." He looks at his computer. "You know we'll get that back. Eventually. And more, probably."

She snorts. "Like Lupa will ever let your people get their hands on it."

He raises an eyebrow. "My people have gotten one over yours more than you've done to us."

"If we had Percy and Annabeth-"

"But you don't." He interrupts. "We do. Along with some of your own."

Spies. Double agents, in their own organization. Reyna will have to report this to Lupa. "Who?"

"Your friends. Hazel and Frank?" Leo meets her eyes steadily, not missing her signs of surprise, maybe even seeing her betrayal. "Will you report them, Reyna?"

"They- you're lying." Her hand isn't shaking. It's _not_.

"No." He speaks quietly. "That's one thing I never did to you. I don't intend to start now."

She ignores that. "Then why _tell me_?"

"Maybe I want to see where your loyalties really lie." He's standing behind his desk now. "Go on then. My last few guards will be coming any second. Shoot me and run."

He's challenging her.

"If you do," he speaks calmly, meeting her eyes steadily. "I won't forgive you."

She laughs. "How could you forgive me even now? After everything?"

He shrugs.

Reyna closes her eyes for only a second.

And then she shoots the wall just beside his ear, watches as he ducks to fall on the floor.

"Goodbye Leo."

She turns and leaves, not leaving a trace she was ever there.


	89. Memory

**89\. Memory**

Reyna wonders sometimes why in her memory it's the worst parts of her life that stand out.

More than any joy or happiness she's felt, she remembers loss. Betrayal, hurt, distrust. It's been so many years she barely remembers what it was like to love and be loved anymore.

She remembers the aching goodbye. The helplessness and despair she felt reflected back at her from brown eyes full of pain.

She remembers holding Leo, as gentle as she could but hurting him nonetheless. She remembers gripping him so tight that nothing could take him away. She looks back and sees sea green eyes in front of her trying to get her attention, frantic and full of uncontrollable anger, and the voice that went along with them yelling at her to get up, to move, or else she would be hit. She remembers Leo's voice from below, his hand slackly touching her wrist, smearing blood on the skin there, his voice croaking at her to move and get up and _fight_ because there was no way he was going to let her die there, like this.

She ignored both Percy and Leo, instead hunching over Leo's body protectively, trying all at once to will him to live and heal and protect him from the outside threats.

She remembers crying, remembers hearing a distant scream that she's sure came from Piper and then an agonized yell that was undoubtedly Jason, because right after it there was electricity in the air and her hair stood on its end as monsters were blasted to dust by lightning.

But mostly she remembers whispering 'I'm sorry', over and over again in Leo's ear and then having Leo smile up at her and tell her she had nothing to be sorry for because she gave him _everything he ever wanted._

"I'll see you on the other side," he told her weakly. "But not for a while, okay?"

She hiccuped. "I can't lose you."

His expression had faltered and she had seen it, seen him, his fear and pain and despair. She had seen how sorry he was to leave her like this.

"Don't," she said before kissing his brow and running her hands through his curls, ignoring the blood pooling around them, soaking her knees and legs. "Don't try to- to make it okay." She closed her eyes. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"Oh Rey," he sighed, a huge rattling sigh. "Not nearly as much as I'll miss you."

A sob from nowhere escaped her. "Please don't leave me. I don't want to be alone again."

But he was leaving already, she could see it. His breathing was more uneven, his eyes were dimming and his forced smile was slipping away.

She swallowed and raised her chin, meeting his eyes before he really was gone. "I love you Leo."

His smile was the last thing he gave her. It brightened his whole face and Reyna's tears fell like a dam breaking. "Me too."

She stayed there for a few seconds, or minutes. But then a spear sailed past her ear and Annabeth and Percy were both there now, hauling her to her feet.

"Reyna, get up!" Annabeth yelled at her. "You'll die if you don't _move_!"

Reyna looked at her numbly before turning to Percy. "Help me?" She asked.

Understanding flickered in his eyes as he nodded. "Of course."

Annabeth gripped her sword. "Let's go then."

Together they charged.


	90. Childhood

**90\. Childhood**

Leo's childhood ha started out lonely.

He'd had two best friends, Piper and Jason. They'd met when they'd been about 6 and it had been obvious from the start to Leo that he was the third wheel of their epic romance story.

But they were friends and he'd needed friends. Plus he liked them. More than anybody else he knew at that age. When he got over the fact that sometimes Jason did things that hurt his feelings to make Piper smile or laugh, they worked.

Then they went to school and Leo met the rest of their grade.

Clarisse, the bully who nobody could talk to but Silena, who was head over heels in love with Beckendorf who returned the feelings but didn't know it was mutual. Will and Nico who was younger but brilliant enough to be put head. They started out having no reason to talk but eventually coming out as a couple in the tenth grade. Hazel and Frank, friends since they were babies but who obviously had a thing from the minute they both hit puberty in 6th. The Stoll brothers who both had a crush on Katie, but everyone knew she liked Travis. Percy and Annabeth, the King and Queen of the grade and possibly the entire school. Love struck idiots who were friends with everybody but also freakishly intimidating.

Then there was Jason and Piper, also couple goals. His best friends who had become best friends with other people, bringing him along, including him, opening up his social life. He got in through them but he stayed because of himself.

So now he was friends with people he never thought he'd been friends with. He joined in on the 'Jercy' bromance, hung out with the girl group of Annabeth, Hazel and Piper when the others weren't able to and talked and joked with the others.

Then, outside of it all, there was Reyna.

Unsocial, surprisingly funny, Reyna. Reyna who would intimidate people to back off with just a look and a raised eyebrow. Reyna who jumped when people came close, who was absolutely brilliant and beautiful, who was a complete mystery.

He tried to talk to her, but she always seemed bored or like she thought he was stupid.

But a small class has its perk, one of them being the fact that you know everybody in it. These are people Leo's grown up with, and now that they're in their 11th year, he feel pretty comfortable around each and every one of them and knows them all.

Except Reyna.

He plans on fixing that.

It starts with him always saying hi when he sees her.

She always acts surprised. Granted he's never really gone out of his way to talk to her before, but he thought after the tenth time she'd stop acting like he'd stripped through the school instead of just saying a simple hello.

Eventually he finds chances to talk to her. In break, lunch, in class. He comments on her comments and asks about her day and somehow they fall into a pattern until they're studying together and he spends lunch with her and then invites her to sit with the rest of them and-

And then he's in love with her, as easy as that.

Eventually she notices.

She doesn't say anything, just takes his hand and twines their finger together.

From that day on they're _Leo and Reyna_ and he's not so lonely anymore.


	91. Dirt

**91\. Dirt**

Leo knows Reyna is beautiful and entirely out of his league most of the time.

But there are moments that stick out to him where she's _stunning_. Moments where he literally cannot see anything else because she's there, taking all of his attention.

One of those moments happens on what could possibly be the worst day of Leo's life.

There's nothing but _screams_.

That's it, all he can hear. Screaming from friends, screaming from enemies, screaming from the gods... Leo is surrounded by screaming and anguish and loss and he's lost amidst it all.

He's standing with his hammer hanging by his side, spinning around helpless because oh gods, there's Travis Stoll laying on the ground and there's blood coming from his temple and he could be dead, Leo doesn't know...

There's Katie, standing over him, tears on her face and he wonders if she feels as helpless as he does because there's so many of them laying hurt and he can't stop and help them.

But he catches a glimpse, as he's looking around, of a brown braid whipping through the air, of a gladius flashing and hitting a chest plate before glancing off.

And her face is covered in dirt and sweat but her eyes are fierce and defiant, her stance confident and he feels something clench in his chest at how brave and beautiful she is.

He turns and raises his hammer, ready to fight some more.

oooOOOooo

Later things are numb.

He's sitting at the fire with his friends and they're all trying so hard to not completely fall apart but it's a fragile thing and some of them are breaking.

Percy, every time he looks around and takes note of who's not there sitting with them. Piper, glancing over her shoulder to talk to people who are no longer there to answer.

Him, staring at the fire, remembering the screams and the bodies and oh Gods-

\- he gets up and leaves, ignoring his friends looks and words of protest. He walks up from the campfire and he wanders, searching for something, anything...

He sees Reyna.

She's bandaging Nico's arm and she looks up and meets his eyes and suddenly he knows what he needs.

He walks over and ignores the warning in her eyes, the surprised parting of her lips.

He kisses her, because he needs it.

She kisses back, because she does too.

But then she pulls away and just looks at him, a raised eyebrow and a question in her eyes. "Now, Valdez? Really?"

He's about to reply when he remembers Nico is there, and sees the son of Hades stand up. "Straight people," he mutters seemingly in a daze, before staggering away to Will Solace.

Leo tries to bite back a grin.

It's the first time he's smiled in a week.


	92. Wrinkle

**92\. Wrinkle**

Reyna has been with him through so much.

Winning the war, his first time, their wedding, their children, his first wrinkle...

Now it's his turn, he knows, to be there for her.

Leo doesn't remember what the doctor did after he told them that Reyna had cancer. He doesn't remember the words he said, the look on his face or the tone he said it in.

All he remembers is Reyna squeezing his hand so hard it hurt. Her face, looking so scared for a second, but then going blank.

But when she'd met his eyes and held his gaze after the words left the doctors mouth Leo had felt something shatter and break inside.

He knows they've had long lives. He knows that. They're going on 60 and compared to most demigods they're absolutely ancient but it isn't enough.

No matter how long he gets with Reyna, it will _never_ be enough.

But Gods, does he want more.

He can hope and he can pray to Apollo and every single other god out there but he knows the way Reyna knows, that time is running out for them.

He's so scared. He knew he was lonely before he met her, before they were dating and together and them, but now that he knows what it's like to be with Reyna and be the one she wakes up with every morning and says 'I love you too', he cant imagine going back from that.

But Leo has to be strong for her. Reyna is the one who is losing everything, the one in pain and who's life is in danger.

Leo does all he can to help.

He tries not to be obvious, because after being married to her for 40 years you learn things about someone and what he's learned about Reyna is that she hates charity and pity. So he does little things. He cooks more so she can come home and just rest, because she's been tired more and more often lately. He's been making sure their kids call and visit as much as they can and he knows every time they do Reyna appreciates it.

Their friends make a point of coming over, but whenever Leo's around it always seems like it's that cloud hanging over them all.

Then there's the nights where neither of them can ignore it anymore.

"Leo," Reyna rolls over on the bed to face him in the darkness of their room. "Tell me you're going to be okay."

He feels her hand touch his and he links their fingers together. "What do you mean?"

She takes a deep breath. "I've just- I've been thinking. About what it would be like for me to lose you. And I can't even picture it, I can't imagine being the one left behind. I just want- I need to know that you're going to be okay and you won't do anything stupid and- and- I've accepted what's happening to me, that there's nothing we can do, but I just can't accept leaving you alone."

He had to be strong for her. Tell her what she needs to hear.

"Losing you is going to hurt me," he tells her. "I- can't even imagine what that will be like and I am going to miss you like crazy." He takes a deep breath. "But I promise you that I will be okay."

He's lying.


	93. Pink

The room is a little blinding when Reyna walks in, she isn't going to lie.

The ten screaming second grade children running around aren't helping her opinion of this birthday party either.

It's just... there's so much _pink_.

Pink streamers, pink party hats, pink tutus for the girls and that one little boy, a pink frosted cake, pink balloons...

Reyna can't be sure, but she'd be willing to bet that Amy (Annabeth and Percy's daughter) had a favourite colour and that her favourite colour is pink.

She finds the adults in the living room, passing around a jug of iced tea to fill their plastic cups and a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.

Reyna won't even pretend that she's surprised.

"Amy wants to cut the cake," she tells Annabeth. "She's about to come beg Percy to bring it down from the top of the fridge."

Annabeth sighs, getting up carefully. Her belly isn't as big as it was when she finally went into labour with Amy, but it's getting there and Hazel and Reyna both reach out to steady her until she's finally stable on her feet. She shoots them a grateful smile.

"Alright, come on then. Gather your children and if you don't have any," she shoots a pointed look at Reyna, "then gather the ones that are left."

The sight they're met with is a surprising one.

Amy is riding on Percy's shoulders, reaching forwards trying to get a finger of icing from the cake in his hands. Leo is sitting on the floor, allowing Sophie and Charlie to put makeup on his face. The boy with the tutu who's name Reyna doesn't know is jumping up and down chanting with Frank and Hazel's son, Michael. Then there's Theo, Annabeth and Percy's 4 year old son, who runs up to Reyna and grins at her really wide, showing his two missing front teeth, and says, "Amy turns 7 today." He tells her proudly.

Reyna nods. "I heard something important was happening today! That must be it."

He smiles at her. "We're going to cut the cake."

Reyna smiles back. "You better hurry up and get a good piece," she tells him.

His eyes widen and he scurries over to Percy and Annabeth, who are taking control of the room, doing their thing, both of them beaming with joy.

For a second Reyna feels jealous.

But then Leo stands up and walks over to her, red lipstick surrounding his mouth like a clown's makeup, eyes an alarming shade of purple and cheeks covered in pink, and the jealousy goes away.

She smiles at her husband. "You're a dork."

Leo pouts playfully. "Umm, actually, I was told I looked so pretty I could be a princess. Soo," he scoffs at her, "you're gonna eat your words."

Reyna laughs. "Of course, just what I wanted. A husband who's life calling is to be a princess."

"Sophie and Charlie think I'm beautiful," Leo crosses his arms. "That's all that matters."

She shakes her head but then gets serious. "You're so good with kids."

Leo shrugs. "They're just like miniature me's, ya know? It's not too hard for me to talk to them."

Reyna nods, looking down for a second. "Do you want one?" She asks quietly. "You know. Eventually."

"Yeah, in a little while. But I'm happy right now, with the way things are."

Reyna smiles. "Yeah, me too."


	94. Hding

**95\. Hiding**

Reyna is not a coward.

That doesn't change the fact that she's been hiding. For months now, she's been doing everything she can to avoid this.

Hazel and Frank's wedding is today, however, and when Reyna wakes up it's with the knowledge that she'll be seeing Leo Valdez for the first time since their breakup.

A breakup that left Reyna more broken than ever.

She will never give anybody that amount of power over her again, she's decided. She will never let anybody in so deeply, letting them wrap their love around her so tight that it's still there after she's tried so hard to wash it away.

She will never let herself fall for anyone else like she let herself fall for Leo.

And yet.

She has a pang of longing every time the coffee shop guy flirts with her. Not for him, but for the good things that come from relationships. For what she had with Leo.

Before she ended it.

She's kept in touch with their friends. She speaks to them regularly, hangs out with them occasionally, but whenever she knows Leo will be there she has an excuse and a bottle of wine ready.

Then, suddenly, it's the wedding.

Reyna sits front row and she sees Leo on the other side of the aisle. Same row, same room, same air.

He hasn't seen her yet.

She hadn't been prepared for the pain of it. The absolute piercing feeling of having lost someone you never imagined living without.

She barely pays attention to the wedding.

And then it's over and the couple walks down the aisle, looking so happy it hurts to look at them too, but Reyna tries. She smiles when they meet her eyes and congratulates them outside and hugs them and she does her best, okay?

But she turns to give somebody else a chance to speak to them and there's Leo, just standing there. Stunned and staring, not being able to take his eyes off of her like she hadn't been able to stop thinking about him all day.

The look on his face makes her wonder if he even knew she'd be here.

They're staring at each other, everyone else a faint memory, a distant hum, until Percy purposely stands between them on his way to the married couple.

And that's it.

She looks away and tries to back off, but their circle of friends notice, of course. Right away she gets looks, Annabeth grabs her wrist, whispers, "If you just _talked_ to him..."

She gently breaks away from her friend, just shaking her head, before going off to speak with Nico and Will.

Reyna mingles. She keeps and eye on Leo at all times, it seems, making sure he's no where near her, that she can't even hear his voice. When he seems like he's coming towards her she escapes to somewhere else, someone else, and pretends she doesn't see him coming.

But at the reception, it seems she's lost new people to talk to and meet.

And his friends are her friends.

So they can't avoid it any longer, really.

People are dancing. It's dark, music is playing and they're standing in front of each other.

Reyna meets his eyes. "I'm sorry."

It's long overdue and he grimaces as if her words pain him.

"Me too."

His new number is slipped into her coat pocket. She finds it the next morning.


	95. Present

**95\. Present**

Reyna's past birthdays have gone by without any notice.

It makes sense, Leo knows, because she never told anybody the date except Jason.

And he also knows, even though Reyna would never admit it, that every birthday she'd wanted something special, something for her.

(The most Jason had ever given her was a happy birthday and half of a brownie he'd had for lunch that day.)

He knows that even though she's not a needy person, all Reyna has ever wanted was to come first. To matter to somebody more than anything- more than anyone- else.

This year, though, he has plans for her.

She's not big into gifts. That's never been what she's wanted or looked for on her birthday.

What Reyna wants is recognition. It's love and acknowledgement.

It's for someone to show her that they care.

Even Hylla, Leo has seen, has been sorely neglectful when it comes to Reyna's birthday. She's always made sure to send a message as soon as she remembers, but more often than not it's the day before, or the day after. The day of, it seems, is always very busy.

Leo has Iris-messaged Hylla. He's reminded all of their friends for weeks that Reyna's birthday is coming up and they better not forget and-

He's been the receiver of many eye-rolls and "We know, Leo, gods, you only remind us every half hour!" from Piper, but he needs to make sure that this year, at least, Reyna gets a perfect birthday. Not many of them have had one. Percy, lucky guy, has always had a mother who cared about him. Lately Annabeth's family have made more of an effort, and she's had Percy for years now to make it special. Frank's had some good years, Piper occasionally, on the days her dad wasn't dragged to work.

But the majority of demigods? Not a chance.

Reyna deserves so much more than half a brownie given to her as an afterthought.

"Come on Rey," he leads her blindfolded to the lake at Camp Jupiter. It's dark out and the Venus cabin (at Piper's request) spent all day decorating the edge of the forest and the beach with things like fairy lights, streamers, etc. Party stuff.

There's also a huge cake in the shape of a pegasus and all of their friends. Plus Clarisse.

Hylla was present in Iris-message only, but still. It mattered.

"Leo, what are you-?"

He pulls the blindfold off and smiles as almost all of their friends yell excitedly. "Surprise!"

After a slow yet huge smile dawns on Reyna's face she turns to Leo. "Let me guess, this was you?"

He shrugs before moving closer to her. "Happy Birthday Rey," he murmurs against her lips.

She kisses him briefly but passionately, ignoring the catcalls and cheers. And when she pulls away she momentarily rests her forehead against his and says in a whisper. "Thank you."


	96. Odd

**So I'm so sorry for the long wait but I do have an excuse. My laptop's been broken for months now and I only just got a new one today. Suprrise, surprise, one of the first things I did was write a chapter for this fic because goddamn it's been weighing on my mind and this couple is really starting to become one of my ships. I can't wait for Trials of Apollo to shred my shippers heart with all of the Caleo sure to come our way.**

**Anyway... hope you enjoy! I am back for good now my lovelies, expect more regular updates, stay tuned for the end!**

**96\. Odd**

Leo Valdez had been odd his whole life.

Come on, an ADHD kid with no mother, jumping from foster home to foster home, never able to make any real friends, with trouble following him around? Who'd want to get near that kid?

So he was labelled as odd and Leo didn't know any better to dispute that.

Reyna was not labelled an odd kid.

She was a hard worker, scary, sometimes unsocial, but not really odd.

Loving her however... that was odd. Reyna had one person in the world who loved her, in the form of her older sister Hylla. But even Hylla had left Reyna in search of a new life for herself.

Being loved by somebody was odd for Reyna. She was used to being alone.

Then the war happened.

The war happened and Reyna became friends with Nico. She was reunited with Jason and slowly assimilated into the little group of friends that had been created.

Reyna gained some friends.

Suddenly being alone didn't sound so tempting anymore.

And eventually when Leo and Calypso realized the issues in their relationship- "You're _immortal_, Calypso, and I won't let you sit here and watch me grow old and die without you!"- it ended up being Reyna who comforted him.

After that... it was predictable really. They were the two single ones left, they found out they were amazingly different which led to arguments and banter and passion.

Then one night after a particularly nasty and pointed fight Leo had cornered her in her Praetor House and slammed her against the door, his mouth on top of hers with so much _want_.

Eventually Leo Valdez grew to love Reyna, even if nobody else would.

He didn't care. He'd always been a little odd anyway.


	97. Strawberry

**(I accidently mixed up the order between 95 and 96, so 96 is the last chapter I posted and I replaced 95 with what it was supposed to be. Go back and read number 95 [if you want] which should be called Present.)**

** 97\. Strawberry**

Neither of them were a big fan.

They would never admit it to their friends but... Leo and Reyna really couldn't be bothered with the whole thing.

"I know they're supposed to be great but..."

"They didn't really stand out as anything special to me," Reyna muses, munching on jellybeans. "But the others-"

"- they love them, I know."

"So how do we hide that we don't really like them?"

Leo shrugs his shoulder. "Maybe if we tried just one more-"

"No," Reyna turns over in their bed to face him. "Really. Those two were enough for me."

"If we don't tell them then you know they'll be around constantly. Hazel and Nico especially really love them." He says, snagging a candy.

Reyna frowns. "It's not a big deal." She finally decides. "If it comes up with them then we'll just tell them we didn't like them and that's that. It'll be done with."

"Rey-"

"It's not a big deal." Reyna says, sounding as if she was trying to convince herself as well. "I mean... we can't help it, really."

Leo steals another jellybean and swallows before nodding finally. "Alright then."

oooOOOooo

Of course it comes up the next day when they're at the Jackson's apartment.

"Who's up for some Beatles music?" Percy asks them all rather excitedly. "We just bought a record of theirs and have been waiting until you guys came to listen to it."

There's a chorus of enthusiastic agreements and Leo looks pointedly at Reyna and Reyna looks pointedly at Leo until Leo eventually backs down and ventures quietly, "Em, why don't we try listening to something else?"

Things go quiet in the room and Leo gulps, meeting Reyna's eyes. She nods encouragingly and he tries again.

"Well it's just... Reyna and I listened to some of their songs last night and we... didn't really like them?" The last few words come out meekly, almost questioning, and Reyna shrinks back slightly from the looks thrown at her by her friends.

"They're alright, of course," Reyna hastens to add, sitting straight again because dammit, she was praetor of New Rome for over 10 years and in college, she was not scared of her friends.

(Who looked as if Leo had helped her kill all of their mothers and siblings. At once. In front of their faces. While laughing.)

"We were just hoping to listen to something else?" She finishes.

"Something... else?" Piper asks hesitantly. "Not the Beatles?"

"Well- I- we..." Leo looks to her for help.

"You don't like the Beatles?" Frank asks incredulously.

"It's not that we don't _like_ them," Leo says quickly, "it's just..."

"We'd rather not listen to them?" Reyna finishes. "Ever again?"

Her words are met with stunned silence.

"Well," Annabeth says, "that- that's fine, we won't- we don't have to listen to them now."

Stunned faces look to her now and she shrugs.

"Thanks guys," Leo says. "We just didn't-"

"Can I ask why?" Jason leans forward. "Why you didn't like them, I mean."

"Well..." Leo looks to her. "They just aren't-"

"They sing about strawberry fields, for Gods' sakes!" Reyna says. "It just wasn't a good song."

"Well," Will said cheerily after a moment of silence. "Who's up for some Rihanna, then?"


	98. Music

**Alright guys, I have not yet read Trials of Apollo so no spoilers please! I'm getting it today and reading is all I'm doing after I do. Hope you like this chapter, and thanks so much for sticking with me through this story everyone, I can't believe we're almost done!**

**98\. Music**

"Come on Jason," Piper grabs her boyfriends hand and leads him to where all of the dancing couples were in the meadow at Camp Half Blood.

Leo sighs. He's used to being jealous of his friends and all of their relationships, but ever since he'd started dating Reyna a few months ago that feeling had all but vanished. Now he had someone, his someone, and he wasn't jealous anymore.

Because his someone was Reyna and she was better than anybody else in the world.

He's used to Percy and Annabeth. The Golden Couple of Camp, of course they've been either dancing all night (Percy looking extremely awkward at first) or talking to _everybody_ here. They'd come and sat with him for a bit, drinking the punch spiked with ambrosia, before Percy asked Annabeth to dance again.

Even Nico had been dancing- or swaying side to side in one spot at least- with Will, and Nico wasn't exactly a _dancer_. Leo was the only one who was spending the majority of their time sitting on the sidelines, his foot halfheartedly tapping along with whatever song the Apollo kids were playing.

Reyna was in Camp Jupiter, he hadn't seen her for almost two weeks now and he was missing her. Especially when he was surrounded by everyone's else happiness.

Gods, even Clarisse had been dragged out to dance, Leo noticed. He didn't know how Chris had managed that.

He takes another sip (gulp) of his ambrosia, tasting jellybeans as he does, and startles when he hears a very familiar voice behind him.

"I'm surprised you're not up there shaking it with Will."

He turns and there's Reyna, smiling at him with sparkling eyes.

Leo thinks it might be the happiest moment of his life.

He gets out of his chair and kisses her before saying anything in response, a full blown kiss, soft and tender because she's here and he's missed her and now everything is _so_ much better.

He pulls away and actually takes her in, reveling in her hair that's down in waves (which never happens), white spaghetti strap tank and jean shorts and he marvels because she's his person and he's hers and isn't that just everything?

He grins at her, finally speaking. "I was waiting for the right audience obviously."

She grins and takes his hand, walking him to where everyone else is. They're greeted with yells of surprise, people saying hi and it takes a few minutes but eventually they're just dancing together.

"How are you here?" He asks her.

She shrugs. "Got Frank to cover for me. He has Hazel there to help him so I think it should be okay."

Leo laughs. "Amazing," he says.

She smiles at him before saying, "I missed you."

He raises one of their joined hands and kisses her knuckles. "You too Rey. You have no idea how much."

Her smile becomes a full- watt one. "I figured I'd stay the weekend. Get back to being praetor in a few days."

"Yes," Leo nods happily, suddenly thinking he could possibly be in love with this girl. "Definitely, yes."

And with that, with Reyna just being there, Leo suddenly wasn't lonely or jealous at all.


	99. Couch

**This is pretty much pure smut. **

**99\. Couch**

The office is deserted except for them and all Reyna can hear is harsh panting and the sound of their clothes being shed.

"Leo," she murmurs against his lips, wondering why she's saying anything at all because this feels so good. "We should- anyone could-"

He pulls back from her, and she shifts from where she's straddling him on the couch. "You want to stop?"

She hesitates because for gods' sakes their in her office, which is not the most private of places in this building, and she knows other people come in at random times some nights and it would just be like it if they got caught-

"No," she breathes and then she can't say anything else because she's moaning at the feeling of his lips on her neck, moving hungrily down, farther and farther.

Her jacket's off, then her blouse and she's down to her bra. Leo groans in appreciation at what he sees, Reyna's hands are just as frantic, moving under his shirt to feel at skin and Leo is always warm but right now he feels like he's burning, fire under her touch; but the office is cold and Reyna doesn't mind.

His shirt is worked from his arms to rest forgotten behind him and she touches anywhere she can before moving her hands to the back of his neck and pulling his lips to hers because she needs to _taste_ him.

Their tongues meet and it's a battle, one she wins, before she's drowning. She must be, because she feels like she's floating and sinking all at once and this, this is like a drug to her.

It's gotten to the point where she can't pretend this doesn't mean something to her anymore, that it's just a casual fling between a superior and a worker. She loves this and can't seem to get enough of Leo. Hades, she practically dragged him in here just now before they ended up a sweaty mess on her sofa.

She's working at his belt buckle while their lips are attacking one another's and Leo's panting, groaning and swearing at her once she gets past it, sticking her hand in his boxers and finding hardness there.

Leo's forehead comes to rest on her bare shoulder as her hand works and despite the angle Reyna knows she's doing well because she can hear it from his lips against her skin.

Before he can really fall apart though she takes her hand away and grinds down, her underwear against his length and they're both breathless now, nothing between them but pure want.

Finally they're both done with waiting, and Leo shoves her underwear aside, allowing her to envelop him and yes, that's it, this is what she wants, this is what she _craves_.

It's not gentle, it's quick and messy but they're both shaking and sweaty when it's over and Reyna mewls a little when she comes off her high.

"Amazing," Leo whispers, so quiet she almost doesn't hear it, and then he kisses her temple, making her smile against his skin.

They're only like this just after, otherwise it's quick glances, dirty text messages and scorn to one another. She looks down on him for not being more than the office mechanic and he thinks she's a stuck up manager.

They're not meant to be together.

That doesn't stop them- it only makes it better.


	100. Light

**If you don't want to read what is probably going to be a long A.N. I would skip past the bold words :) Thanks for sticking with this guys.**

**So. We're here. ****Can someone explain how it seemed to take so long and yet go by so quickly?**

**Thank you to all of you guys so much, the reviews and follows and favourites have made me so happy, I can't tell you how glad I am that I was able to inspire such reactions from only 600 words or less every time. You are all amazing and I love you.**

**Special shout out to ZJem for reviewing every chapter with such passion and being so kind. Some chapters I only wrote because I knew you were waiting for them and you are a huge part of what kept this story going. **

**The updating was terrible, but then again when is it not with me? I apologize and for those who made it to the end I really hope I did this justice. Leyna is now one of my biggest ships in this fandom, which sucks because Caleo has basically just become a canon thing. Thanks Rick. **

**Love to you all, I hope you read my next stories, don't be afraid to PM me ever, for anything. Prompts, requests, wanting me to read and review things, wanting to talk... you go for it. **

**I hope you like this chapter, I tried to make it a good one to close with. Please, if you could, leave me a review but if not thank you just for reading.**

**On we go darlings. :'( I will miss you**

**100\. Light**

The light from the sun through the window is what first makes Leo appreciate the scene.

He and Reyna don't have much of an apartment, but it's theirs and they make it home. It's tiny. The kitchen and living room are practically one and the same, the bedroom closet doesn't fit all of their clothes, they have to inch around the bed and the bathroom...

Did he mention it was tiny? And that he absolutely loves this place?

Their first apartment together, he'd been a little nervous moving in, making the jump from Camp Half-Blood to New Rome. But here they are, five years after Reyna gave up being praetor, going to college, getting degrees, preparing to settle down together.

(Well... if the ring sitting in his pocket for the past week was any indication.)

And they were still stuck in this crappy apartment.

Neither of them mind.

Because for Leo he gets to crawl out of bed to find views like this waiting for him. Reyna in pajama pants, a white tank and a gray woolen shawl shitting on their window seat, staring out over the town with a steaming cup of coffee cupped in her hands, light glowing around her from the dawn.

And Leo stops cold because this woman is everything to him, and when did that happen? How did he go from having no one and nothing to share his life with to her, to Reyna who he would die for and live for and wants to be with forever?

He honestly doesn't know how it happened. And yet he treasures every moment and memory he has of her, so he could probably tell you second for second how their relationship progressed.

("It all started with her loving me, of course-" "Leo." "Okay so I asked her out and she turned me down...")

And now they're here, together, past all of the battles and immortal conspiracies. They're in love, they stay together, Hades, hopefully they're about to get _married_.

Speaking of which...

"Will you marry me?"

She turns around in surprise. "What did you say?"

He's shocked at himself, not able to move for a second, until he somehow practically falls to one knee and fumbles the ring out of his pocket. "Rey, I'm so in love with you." His voice is thicker than usual. "And I can't picture a day where I don't feel that way anymore. Please, will you marry me?"

They're in their pajamas. It's the morning. Coffee is waiting for him in the kitchen but right now the only thing that matters is the look in her eyes and smile widening her lips.

"Of course." She falls to her knees in front of him, cupping his face. "Leo Valdez, of course I'll marry you."

The ring tumbles to the ground forgotten as she kisses him senseless, only later being picked up and placed carefully on her left hand's finger.


End file.
